Catnip
by Fruity-Fruit-Cups
Summary: Everything's cuter with kittens! Even Kingdom Hearts!
1. Catnip

Dedicated to my sister, who forced me to write this.  


* * *

Roxas was never proud of his size. Granted, he _was_ still a kitten, but constantly being surrounded by cats three times his size didn't make it better. The girl who took care of the 13 cats always made sure to play with him, but the second another cat would appear he would bolt, not wanting to become their target. More than once he had been the subject to another's bullying; whether for dominance, food, or just because they could. Their caretaker tried to protect him, but when she was gone he was fair game. The only thing keeping him from constantly being a mess of spit and ripped fur was his ability to hide in small cracks.

It didn't matter if he puffed up his fur; the others would smack him down with a simple paw swipe._ Most_ of them made sure not to draw blood, but on the few off times one did, their caretaker would punish the attacker. She always seemed to know who did it, even if she wasn't around (which she never was) when it happened. All of the cats knew that she adored the fluffy blond kitten, and would protect him from any harm if she had to. That was probably another reason why several of them hated him, but others thought that the novelty would wear off once he grew up like it did with the previous kittens.

It quickly became obvious to Roxas which cats to avoid and which ones to stay with: Larxene was frequently subjected to fits of rage that she loved to take out on him, Saix hated him for reasons unknown, Zexion, even though he was the second-youngest, was cold to almost all of the other cats and too cryptic to understand, Marluxia flat out scared him, Xemnas was the leader, which obviously meant that the measly kitten at the bottom shouldn't _dare_ come near him, Xaldin was less of a cat and more like those horrid beasts that their caretaker used to get around town, and Vexen was insane. He always muttered about human objects and tried to mess with them.

However, there are always two sides to a coin. Just like there were cats who Roxas knew better than to even look at, there were also ones who were helpful and friendly to him. Axel was the main one, having took it upon himself to defend the poor scrap of fluff from the others. Roxas didn't know – no, he couldn't care less, why the older, stronger cat helped him. He had someone to watch out for him since he was too little to do it himself, and that was good enough.

None of the other cats were as friendly to him as Axel was, but there were still others who treated him nicely. On the rare occasion he saw Demyx when the older cat wasn't asleep, he was kind. Luxord, while being confusing and vague, was polite and avoided attacking him. Lexaeus, while being another intimidating monster of a cat, knew better than to try to attack the poor kitten. A simple misplaced paw step could potentially end in cute little guts matted in blond fur all over the clean floor. Lastly, there was Xigbar, who was too caught up in his own world of insulting the other, more important cats to care about the newest addition to their 'family.'

So the kitten, knowing this, set out on a mission to cause as little trouble as possible. He learned what areas of the house to avoid and when. As he trotted through the humongous hallway, he made sure to stay several steps away from the open door leading to the girl's bedroom. Surely Marluxia would be there; reigning over the room by sleeping on the bed. Roxas didn't care much for the height and authority the bed brought; he couldn't get to it. The sheets didn't hang low enough for him to climb up, and he wasn't skilled enough to jump up.

"Aha! Found you!" With a mew of surprise, he was lifted off the floor and soon found himself belly-up in the caretaker girl's arms. She smiled down at him, gently scratching behind an oversized ear in an attempt to stop the glare he was giving her. "Come on Roxie! I have a surprise for you!"

He _hated_ that nickname. It made him seem even cuter and even cuddlier than he already was.

He could only watch from her arms as she trotted back down the hall, the opposite way he was going. He hated how he bounced up and down with each of her steps. Granted, he did like the attention and he did like being picked up, but sometimes it got on his nerves.

They went into a room, and the girl and used her hand that wasn't carrying the blond kitten to shut the door. Setting him down gently on the floor, she gave him a mischievous smile before walking away and rooting through some shelves. He watched her, dreaming of the day when his legs would be powerful enough to jump to the top of the shelves. It looked like it would be so much fun up there, darting between the various objects and exploring it.

The girl soon returned, holding a bag with an oddly sweet smell coming from it. It wasn't like meat or milk (the other cats were crazy; milk was delicious), but something odd and foreign to his senses. She crouched down until she was not a giant towering over him, but to where he could see her face. He rarely saw it, but he was always happy when he did. The long red fur, while not exactly the same shade, reminded him a lot of Axel. She always looked so sweet and gentle.

She opened the bag, instantly making the smell stronger which made him sneeze, though she didn't seem to notice. She set the bag down next to him and waited, watching him with a critical eye.

Roxas shrunk back slightly. She was expecting the kitten to do something, but he had no clue what. Looking over at the bag, he figured that she probably wanted him to investigate it, so he slowly crept over to it, carefully putting one paw in front of the other like his life depended on it. When he got to it, he sneezed again, making the girl giggle. The smell overpowered his nostrils, making him unable to smell anything but whatever was inside the bag. He trotted away from it, giving the bag and whatever was inside it a distasteful glare.

His caretaker clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction. "Bad kitten! You're supposed to like the catnip!" The kitten shrunk back and stared at her, hoping to get her to understand that he was sorry. Thankfully, she did, and with a small giggle, picked him up and cuddled him in her arms. "Oh, you're just too young, Roxie. It's okay," she said cheerfully. Then, without even giving him enough time to glare at her for calling him Roxie, she picked him up and dropped him into the bag.

Roxas couldn't breathe in the sea of green flakes; the smell, while before strong but tolerable, now choked him. Even though his head was above the sea of flakes, he still couldn't breathe. The kitten mewled in protest, hoping that she would be able to hear him and get him out.

It seemed like his entire life was wasted trying to survive inside of the bag, even though, in real time, it was quickly over. A warm hand grabbed him and pulled him out, setting him down on the floor. He didn't know whether to thank the girl for getting him out or hiss at her for putting him in there in the first place.

He didn't have time to figure that particular dilemma out, because before he knew what was happening, he was picked up again. This time she held him a little farther away from her body, not cuddling him close like she usually did. Probably because she didn't want the green bits on her.

The green flakes stubbornly clung to his fur, but that didn't bother him nearly as much as the smell did. It burrowed into his nostrils, making him sneeze uncontrollably. "How cute!" The girl holding him remarked, giggling each time he sneezed.

His heart started racing when she left the room and entered the hallway only to have Larxene at her feet, gazing up at him oddly. For once, she looked happy to see him. The girl walked away from her, but the blond cat kept following her. "Kitties!" She yelled, loud enough to echo through the entire house, "come here!" His heart beat even faster than before as he frantically tried to figure out what was going to happen. It must have something to do with the green stuff on him, but why?

Looking down, he noticed that Larxene was looking extremely happy, but not in a good way. She looked crazed, even more than normal, as if something else had taken her over. He felt scared and anxious; was he supposed to act like Larxene was because of the flakes?

He then concluded that the flakes were scary things that he will never go near again.

The other cats had formed a small circle around the girl's feet, moving with her as she walked. All 12 of the others were there, even Xemnas. Every single cat shared the same crazed look. He didn't want the girl to put him down. Anything but that; he didn't want to know what the others were planning to do to him.

Roxas squeaked in fear as the girl set him down and stepped away from the group, crouching down and watching from a few feet away. He mewled again, trying to convince her to take him to safety. She stayed where she was, and even started laughing. He growled at her, which due to his age, was more of a squeak.. The girl giggled and started cooing at him, telling him how cute he was.

"Catnip..." Confused, he turned around and saw Larxene, staring at him with that odd gaze she shared with the others. She had emerged from the group and was steadily approaching him, like she was stalking a toy. He looked around for a way to escape but the others had surrounded him in a circle. He wasn't skilled enough at jumping to get over them, and there were no gaps he could slip through in between bodies, so he was effectively trapped.

Having found himself backed into a corner with no way to get out, Roxas decided that the only thing left to do was act menacing, even if he was surrounded and one of the scariest cats in the entire house was coming towards him. His fur rose on end, puffing up and making him seem twice as big. He hissed with all of his might, though in the end he only jumped up and gave some weak spit that wasn't anywhere near as frightening as a hiss. He was the one who made it and _he_ could barely hear it. The caretaker girl burst out into laughter.

It didn't deter Larxene at all; she still pounced at him ferociously, rendering him unable to move. He froze, realizing that she wasn't attacking him.

She was _licking_ his fur. Larxene, the violent, crazy cat of the house, was gently licking his side.

It must be the green stuff...she called it catnip. The catnip was doing this to the others; that's why they were going crazy. That's why Larxene was licking it off of him. It make them crazy, and they liked it. He was just too young to be affected by it.

He had to admit, it wasn't that bad. Larxene was being nice for once, and he could actually get used to something like this. She was surprisingly light for being so much bigger than him, and she was helping to get the overpowering smell off of him.

The group surrounding them mostly stayed in one spot. Occasionally a cat would stray out of the circle, only to be greeted with a ferocious snarl from Larxene. They would usually retreat with their tail between their legs, or an angry growl.

She shifted her position slightly, moving one paw and slamming it only to his tail. He yowled in pain, whipping his tail in an attempt to get her off of it. He heard a hiss, prompting both himself and Larxene to look towards the source of the sound.

It was Axel; ears flattened back and tail thrashing. He glared at Larxene and reached out, smacking the top of her head with a hiss. "Don't hurt him!" He spat, smacking her again with his paw.

Roxas saw the same crazed look in Axel, though compared to the others, it was toned down.

Larxene, in a sudden whiplash in mood, hissed and pounced on her attacker. They tumbled away in a mess of fur and flailing limbs. Roxas sat up and tried to look for another opening to get out, but the circle was sealed shut. And getting closer, he noted fearfully.

The other cats rushed him. He was bowled over by several of them knocking into him on accident. He was expecting claws to become unsheathed and hissing to be more prevalent, but besides the fight breaking out between Axel and Larxene and the voice of the girl trying to get them to stop, it was quiet. Now, instead of Larxene gently cleaning the catnip off of his fur, the others were attacking him and each other to get as much as they possibly could. He wasn't sure if every other cat had swarmed him, but there were certainly a lot.

He heard Demyx's (unfamiliar) meow from behind the group. "Hey! I want some catnip too!" He whined, and guessing by several of the cats suddenly hissing, he assumed Demyx had unsuccessfully tried to push his way into the mob of cats surrounding the kitten. With another whine, the hissing stopped. Roxas guessed that the unlucky cat had temporarily left.

Eventually he stopped struggling and complaining underneath all of the cats. There was only so much catnip stuck of him, and they had already gotten most of it off. He lied there, only snapping when one of them made him too uncomfortable, waiting for them to stop.

One cat finally realized that, after completely cleaning one side of the kitten, there was another side to him that was also covered in catnip. They stopped for a second to back up and let a few of the older cats paw at him until he rolled over. With a small protest, he did, finding out that the catnip had decided that it liked sticking to him more than it did the carpet. With renewed vigor, they attacked him again, eagerly lapping up the green flakes.

One by one, they slowly left, making the group that was around him smaller and smaller. Glad that his patience had been a good thing (and kept him from getting injured – besides Larxene stepping on his tail, he was fine), he kept still. It was pretty comforting, though he would never admit it. For all of the comfort, there was a lot of embarrassment.

After what felt like forever, only one cat was remaining: Zexion. Finally noticing that the others had left, he stepped off of the kitten to allow him to get up. Roxas jumped up, sticking his tail straight into the air, glad that he was actually able to stand again.

The older, mysterious cat (even though, at about eight months, he was the second youngest cat) looked at him with his usual cold, bored expression. His eyes were mostly stone, with only a slight bit of the odd look piercing the stone. "No more catnip," he said regretfully, sniffing the kitten. "But you still smell like it." He turned around and left, leaving Roxas to wonder why he had even said such an obvious thing in the first place.

Now he was finally able to get a good look at the room. The girl was gone, as were several of the other cats. Only a few of them remained, either grooming themselves or sleeping.

He needed to groom himself. In their frenzied hurry to get the catnip off of him, they had mussed his fur up horribly. Bits of blond fur stuck up in odd places, and some of the spittier cats had made his fur feel wet. He was about to start making himself look presentable again when a familiar cat bounded up to him.

"Roxas!" Demyx bounded up to him, stopping to circle the kitten. "Aww, there's no more catnip on you," he remarked sadly. He pushed past the scrap of fluff, stopping at where he was previously laying. He sniffed the ground, then after staring at it intensely, he dove down and buried his nose into it, gently chewing on the carpet. "Oooh it tastes like catnip!" He yelled happily, the purr seeping into his voice.

"Err..." Roxas watched as Demyx dug his muzzle deeper into the carpet, purring loud enough that the small cat could hear him from where he was standing. Rather than stand there and watch the older cat eat the flakes off of the floor, he left to go look for Axel, hoping that he wasn't in trouble. The girl hated it when the cats fought seriously. She would always scold them and lock them up in a room all by themselves.

He trotted down the hallway, noting that all of the other cats ignored him when he walked by. Inside of several of the rooms he saw the other cats, but no sign of bright red fur anywhere. His tail drooped down from its normal height, just low enough for the fur to brush against the carpet. If Axel was in trouble, it would be all his fault. The guilt was already starting to swell up within him.

At the end of the hallway, a door opened. The girl stepped out, the bright pink things she kept on her feet obscured by a mass of red fur. Roxas's tail shot up in the air. Axel wasn't in trouble! He ran to the red cat as the girl made sure to step over him as she walked off.

"Axel!" He meowed happily, nuzzling the side of the older cat. "You're okay!" He licked the blond kitten's head in reassurance.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We both got in trouble, but she decided to only lock up Larxene," Axel explained. Roxas was fine with that, since if Larxene smelled him while the catnip lingered on his fur, she would attack him again.

Looking up at his eyes, the kitten noticed that the crazy, glazed over look was gone. At least now he wouldn't get attacked for catnip. "How do I get the smell off of my fur?" He asked. "It's bugging me."

The red cat sniffed the air. "Yeah, it's pretty strong." He gently pushed the kitten with one paw, forcing him to move his paw to regain his balance.

He felt slightly uncomfortable, feeling the green eyes bore into him as he swiped his tongue over an unruly piece of fur in an attempt to get it to stay down. When it didn't, he sat down and looked up at Axel, hoping he would know what to do. Being the older cat, of course he'd be able to help.

So he did. Reaching down slightly, he started to smooth out the messed up fur, trying not to drag too much and hurt the kitten. Like Larxene, it was calming. He yawned, closing his eyes slightly and feeling a purr rumble within his throat. Feeling tired, he lied down while the older cat continued his job.

He was finding it hard to stay awake. He tried to fight the sleep nipping at the edge of his mind, but its influence grew too strong. He soon drifted off, letting the gentle rhythm of the tongue against his fur help lull him to sleep.

Axel, once he noticed that Roxas had fallen asleep, reached around and bit the scruff of his neck, lifting him into the air. He carried the sleeping kitten down the hall, looking for a good place to set him down. Entering one of the human's bedrooms, he noticed a rather large, comfy looking chair. He jumped onto it, gently setting the kitten down onto the soft cushion. Axel decided to stay with him, since this room was one of Larxene and Marluxia's favorite areas, and he wouldn't be safe alone. Plus, the red cat was starting to feel tired himself.

So Axel did what he thought was the smartest thing to do. He curled around the kitten and resumed his job. Roxas would be happy to wake up and find his fur restored to his normal state. He continued grooming him until all the fur he could reach was smooth and clean before drifting off to sleep himself.

* * *

This came from watching my own cats play with catnip. One of them was covered in it, and I started to wonder why her sister didn't just lick it off of her since the catnip bag was already put away and there was no more left. Thus, this was born. I know a few things are incorrect (cats would lick the catnip off of each other for one), but don't mind it. It was for the Rule Of Cute, I swear! D:

Supposed to be a one-shot, but I like the idea, so I'm debating about expanding it into a mulitchaptered fic. Still on the fence, though.

So tell me what you thought of it, if you'd like to read more, and remember; I know the idea is STUPID and probably way overdone, but it was for the rule of cute. I hope you guys thought it was cute.


	2. Milky Paws

Dedicated to my wonderful friends, who are always there for me. Love you guys so much.  


* * *

Somehow, it didn't surprise the human girl that Axel had curled up around Roxas. After all, he did attack Larxene when she hurt him. She didn't quite understand why, but it made her glad that the kitten had made a friend in his new home. Not wanting to disturb their slumber, she gently shut the door, barring the others from getting into her room and starting a fight.

Axel was the first one to wake up. Stretching, he let out a loud yawn and curled back to his original position. The ball of fur pressed against his stomach was warm, and he didn't feel like moving anytime soon. He started to drift back off to sleep, content with his current position. His ears twitched slightly as he heard the soft click of the door. He opened a single green eye to see if the kitten had stirred, but upon seeing him undisturbed, closed it again and actually went to sleep.

Some time later, Roxas awoke from his nap, happy and fully refreshed. His fur felt...less nasty, and upon glancing over himself, he was surprised to see that his blond fur was no longer sticking up everywhere. (Well, the fur on his head was, but it was always like that.) It was groomed back to how he liked it; in place and clean. Sitting up, he finally noticed the red cat still napping beside him. "Thanks Axel," he whispered, not wanting to wake him up for a proper thanks. If he didn't hear it, he would just come back to thank the older cat later.

Right now, he wanted to get out of the room. He jumped off the chair, barely managing to land on his feet. While the chair itself that high off the ground, he still hadn't quite mastered the art of jumping. For now, he was just glad that he had landed mostly correct. He made his way over to the door and slipped through the small crack exiting out into the hallway.

He walked down the hall towards the kitchen, finding it odd that he was any given time, there was always a cat in the hallway. Maybe they all went up those...things. However, the situation quickly changed when he heard a voice behind him. "Well, well. Look who decided to get up." A voice meowed, making him squeak in surprise and puff up all of his fur, making him look much bigger than he really was.

He turned around to see Xigbar, the oldest cat in the house. While he did have long gray streaks in his fur running from his ears all the way down his back, they weren't from age, but were simply a part of his coat color. He didn't have the telltale sign of being old; a silver lining around his muzzle.

Xigbar was far from the biggest cat in the house, but he certainly was intimidating. He was stocky, with short fur showing off muscles perfectly suited for beating tiny kittens to smithereens. Though from what Roxas saw, Xigbar spent most of his time taunting the others and being generally confusing.

The older cat approached Roxas, towering over him with a smug look on his face. He leaned down until he was peering straight into his eyes. The kitten tried to hold back a shudder, pushing away the impulse to run.

What scared him the most about Xigbar was his face; a single gold eye bored into his head,freezing him in place. The other eye was gone, with a mass of coarse black fur covering the empty socket. A large scar ran diagonal across the missing eye, twisted and mangled beyond repair. The fur didn't grow on the scar, leaving the pale gray skin in plain sight.

"So, what's your name again? Starts with an o, right?" The older cat asked, bearing his teeth in a way that mimicked the face the caretaker girl made when she was happy. It looked so unnatural on a cat.

Roxas tried to back up, but found himself pressed to a wall. "No...it's Roxas," he replied, trying to find some strength in his voice, but it only came out a small whisper. His tail drooped down, tucking itself between his hind legs.

The older cat went on, seemingly not hearing him. "Guess I was right, Orxas." His ears were fine, and unlike a few of the other cats, didn't even have a single nick in them. How did he manage to hear him wrong? Roxas briefly wondered if maybe there was a lot of wax clogging them up.

"But my name is-"

"So, where are you going?" Xigbar cut him off, his tone demanding an answer.

Roxas looked around nervously. He didn't exactly know how he knew, but an 'I don't know' clearly wouldn't satisfy the older cat. "Umm...the kitchen, to get some food."

"If Kairi's not in there, you're screwed. All the bowls are empty," Xigbar meowed, the unnatural expression still on his face. It looked like it would hurt, but the older cat showed no sign of pain whatsoever. "I ate the last of it myself!" His meow had a bragging note in it, making Roxas wonder why anyone would brag about eating the last of the food.

Roxas was torn between hissing at him for being annoying, or staring at him blankly. Within a few seconds he settled on a safer, third option. "Who's Kairi?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to one side.

The older cat snorted. "You don't know who /Kairi/ is? Orxas, Orxas, Orxas..." He shook his head sadly. "She's the girl who takes care of us. Honestly, am I the only one here who knows her name or are the others too stupid to remember it?"

"Maybe...they don't know?" Roxas offered weakly.

Xigbar snorted again. "As if! They've all been here for long enough to know! Gah!" He started walking down the hall towards the kitchen. Roxas trotted behind him, making sure to stay out of the reach of his tail. He really did not want to get slapped with it.

The kitchen was always so alien to the little kitten. If he wasn't careful, he'd slip and fall onto the cold surface he walked on. It was so unnatural and uncomfortable, so he only went in the kitchen when he needed to. He walked oddly on the cold stone; lifting his paws up much higher than normal and quickly bouncing from paw to paw.

Xigbar, however, walked normally on the strange surface. He looked around the room, carefully looking for any sign of the red-haired girl. He sniffed the air, then turned around with an exasperated groan. "The girl's not here, Orxas! It's not even a school day!" Roxas watched him, utterly confused at the older cat's ramblings. "Who goes to school on Sunday? Gah, she's probably at either Sora's or Riku's place. Stupid boys. I mean, have you even met Riku's cats? Last time I saw Aqua she gave me a nasty scratch on my tail. Not to mention what Terra did to me...I hate that cat, did you know that? He wasn't much better as a guy either..."

At that point Roxas stopped listening to Xigbar's rambling, instead focusing on the fact that Kairi was nowhere to be found, much to the disappointment of his growling stomach. Having nothing better to do, he sat down on the cold floor, nearly wrapping his fluffy blond tail around his paws. Xigbar ignored him and continued to ramble on.

"Actually most of the cats were jerks when they were alive. You know how many times I wanted to slap them? Many times. Including you, but that's for another day. Larxene was the only one who I didn't attack. I'm not an idiot, and I didn't want to die. Not back then, and not know. Heh, I sound like an old man. Back in my day..."

All Roxas could hear was, "blah blah blah rant rant rant confusing confusing confusing." Axel was right; Xigbar really was crazy. He closed his eyes, feeling oddly comfortable on the slippery floor.

It seemed like he had just drifted off into a comfortable nap when Xigbar started brashly yelling into his ear. "Orxas! Wake up!" He backed off slightly after seeing Roxas's eyes open. "Okay," he said gruffly, "you're not dead. Well, you fell asleep in the middle of my story," he reminded the kitten with a harsh tone.

Roxas could only offer him a sheepish mew. "Sorry?"

Xigbar snorted. "Alright, alright, I get it. You don't want me around anymore, do you Orxas?" Before Roxas could protest, Xigbar was already halfway down the hallway. With a soft meow of annoyance, Roxas sat down again and stared at the door, hoping for Kairi to come back soon. His stomach was completely empty, and there was no food in sight. The bowl only had a few measly crumbs, too small for him to try to eat.

His ears pricked up at the soft 'click' of a door being opened and light, quick footsteps which he instantly recognized. He was soon snatched up from his spot on the ground, finding himself staring straight at Kairi's worried face. "Roxas!" Her high-pitched whine hurt his ears. "You poor kitten! I bet you want food, don't you?" His eyes grew wide at the mention of food.

With a small giggle, she set him down and set about her new task of getting him his food. As she rooted through the cupboards (that looked like they'd be fun to explore), she started to explain what happened. "Sorry, but Sora wanted me over today. Do you remember him or your brother? You probably don't, but I might take you to meet your brother one day, even if Riku's cats aren't exactly nice. One of them gave Xigbar most of his nasty scars."

He listened with a dull interest, instead choosing to focus more on what her limbs were doing. Eventually she closed the cupboards, inciting a pleading mew from the kitten. She turned around to look at him. "Aww, don't worry. I'm just getting you a special treat.

Treat? Roxas's ears perked up as he watched Kairi open the door of a huge white box. She set a huge jug of white liquid on the counter. He squinted, trying to figure out what it was, and why she had brought it out.

When Kairi twisted the cap off of the jug, he figured out what it was. A creamy, thick scent rifted down and danced around his nose, beckoning him to come closer and taste it. _Milk_. She had brought out _milk_ for him. Tasty, delicious, _milk._

The other cats, for some odd reason, couldn't stand the heavenly drink. They thought it was nasty, or too bland, or something. To Roxas, it was heaven in liquid form.

His tail whipped in anticipation as she poured out a small amount into a bowl. She set it down on the tile next to him. He examined it with dismay, noting that the rim of the bowl went up past his head to the tips of his ears. He tried craning his neck to look inside of the bowl, but sadly, his neck wasn't long enough. He meowed in annoyance.

Kairi watched him with a sad look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but those were the only bowls we had, Roxie." He forced a growl down at the nickname.

He circled the bowl, trying to figure out what he could do. The milk was so tantalizingly close, but he wasn't able to get at it. He scrabbled at the odd stone beneath him with his claws in a frenzied attempt to come up with a solution.

Then it hit him. With a _mrrow_ of happiness, he stood up, setting his paws on the edge of the bowl to look in. The milk was a opaque white layer covering the bottom of the bowl, which was just enough for the hungry kitten. He hopped into the bowl, ignoring the odd feeling of the liquid seeping into the fur on his paws. The bowl was slightly slippery, but since there was no real need to move, he was content to lean down and start lapping up the divine milk.

The bowl was barely big enough for him to stand in. He had to back up to the edge of the bowl and crane his neck down in order to get to the milk. It was a tight fit, but the reward was worth it.

Kairi watched, giggling the entire time. "I didn't think of that! Wow, for a kitten, you're pretty smart." Roxas, however, didn't hear her words. Every single iota of his mind was focused on the milk he was lapping up.

When all of the milk was -regretfully- gone, he sat down and started to clean the milk that had accumulated on his paws. When he stopped being about to taste the milk, he hopped out of the bowl. Kairi, still giggling, took the bowl and put it onto the counter.

Roxas, his tummy full of tasty milk, walked out of the kitchen to go find a good place to nap. He slowly padded down the hallway, taking his time to get back to the room he had woken up in.

While Marluxia was sprawled on the pink bedsheet, Axel was right where he was when Roxas left - curled up on the chair. The kitten crouched down at the foot of the chair, getting ready to jump. He propelled himself into the air, his front paws just barely landing on the edge of the chair. He hooked his claws into the soft fabric and pulled himself up onto the chair.

Roxas stepped over the red cat, pleased to see that there was still a small spot in the middle of the chair that he could sleep in. He lied down in the small spot, enjoying the warm fur brushing up against him. He curled his tail over his nose and quickly fell into a content sleep.

* * *

Alright, the cute won out. Catnip will now be a continuing story. :D I have several chapters already written, so expect steady updates. The update day is now Tuesday. Every Tuesday, if all goes well.

Yes, this is what I've been working on, rather than my other stories. It's just that it caught my attention, and kittens are fun to write. Still, I hoped you guys liked this chapter. I'm throwing in every single KH OC (Sora, Kairi, etc) as characters. EXCEPT Xehanort/Ansem's Heartless. There are enough copies of that guy running around.


	3. Riku's House

Dedicated to...hmm...wait, I got it! Dedicated to these stupid Disney Mania cover songs I can't stop listening to.

* * *

While Kairi's house was large and spacious, with plenty of nooks and crannies for curious cats to explore, Riku's was much smaller – after all, his family wasn't nearly as well off.

But to Riku's cats, the house was perfect. Especially to the kitten of the house, Ventus.

Most of the memories of his previous homes were hazy pictures that he couldn't make out. However, a few things stood out of the hazy mess: a constantly smiling boy, the soft, comforting meow of his mother, and another kitten just like himself.

The memories he did have seemed so perfect, so unreal, that sometimes he wondered if that really happened. Maybe it was all a hazy dream. After all, his entire life had been spent under Riku's care.

Though Ventus tried not to worry about it too much. Whatever life he had before was just something in the past. To him, what mattered was the life he now had.

The kitten walked through the house, looking for something to entertain him. He wanted to play with something, but the older cats were asleep and the humans were gone. They left around the same time every day, and never got back until the sun was beginning to set.

He stopped in the doorway of Riku's bedroom. Aqua was curled up on the boy's bed, though the kitten could tell from her light and uneven breathing that she wasn't really asleep. "Aqua?" He meowed, trying to keep quiet in case she really was asleep.

Ever since he could remember, Ven admired Aqua. He admired Terra too, but Aqua was kind and gentle and nice and lovely.

A single blue eye, the exact same shade of her sleek, shiny fur, opened to look at him. "Ven?" She muttered sleepily. "What is it?"

The kitten tried not to let guilt wash over him. He hadn't meant to wake her up; he was just lonely. "I was wondering if you'd play with me," he told her, trying not to let any guilt or nervousness show. After all, even if she was a lot older, they were still friends, and she wouldn't be mad at him for waking her up.

At least, he hoped.

She sat up and yawned, stretching her tired limbs. "Sure, Ven. I don't mind."

* * *

He meowed happily, returning to his usually cheerful self. "Thanks Aqua!" She jumped off of the bed to join him. He led her down the hallway, happily explaining his plan.

"I found the ball that Terra lost. It was underneath that huge cold thing in the food area-"

"The refrigerator? In the kitchen?" Aqua interjected, trying to make his explanation make sense. He was a bright kitten, but he hadn't exactly figured out the names to most standard household objects.

Ven nodded fervently, then continued his story. "Yeah, but I got under there and got it out. Now we can play with it again!"

Aqua watched him dart down the hallway, turning a sharp corner (and slipping on the tile, but thankfully not falling) to rush into the kitchen. She saw him emerge not long after, slowly batting a colorful ball down the hall.

They batted the ball back and forth, but before long Ven was pouncing on their toy, sending it flying down the hall, which amused the older cat greatly. She didn't remember being as energetic as him when she was his age, but something told her that he would probably always act like a kitten.

They went on like for a while, before Ven got a little over-excited and hit the ball so hard that it flew down the hallway, loudly bumping against the walls as it journeyed farther down. Ven froze in place, looking like he had just committed a terrible crime, forcing Aqua to bite back a mrrow of laughter.

"I'll...go get that," he muttered, trotting down the hallway after the renegade toy, tail dragging along the floor. Aqua watched him until she heard the sound of paws thudding against the carpet that didn't match Ven's movements. Confused, she looked over to see Terra sleepily padding down the hall. He sat down in front on her and yawned.

"Aqua? What was that sound?" The dark brown cat asked, lazily grooming down a stubborn piece of fur. While the sound was pretty loud, she didn't expect it to be loud enough to wake him up.

"It's nothing. You can go back to sleep," she said, trying to assure him. He slowly shook his head, turning around and starting to head down the hall.

"Nah," he replied. "I'm just gonna go get some food."

Ven came back with the ball just as Terra left their line of sight. The kitten looked around in confusion before turning to Aqua. "I heard Terra..." he meowed sadly.

Aqua gave him a reassuring look. "Don't worry, you did. He just left to go eat, that's all."

"Okay!" Ven meowed, letting out a small purr of happiness. "Hey, Aqua, can we go say hi to him? I haven't seen him all day," Ven happily asked, practically bouncing up and down. Clearly he didn't lose any energy playing; if anything, he only got more energetic.

With a small exasperated groan, Aqua nodded and began to follow the bouncing kitten down the hall. He happily called Terra's name, but something told her that the brown cat would be too caught up in eating to notice the squeaky meows.

She was right. Terra didn't even realize that they were there until Ven ran into him and bowled him over, knocking the (much larger) cat to the floor. "Hi Terra!" He meowed happily. "I was wondering when you were gonna get up."

Terra gently pushed the kitten off of him, who padded back to Aqua. He gave her a -fake- hurt look, making his blue eyes seem even bigger than they already were. Ven's cute look never affected Aqua, so she gently pushed him with her shoulder. "Oh, come on Ven. Stop being silly."

Ven opened his mouth to protest, but closed when he saw that Terra had gone back to eating. He flashed the older cat an annoyed look, and dropped down into a crouch. He creeped up behind Terra, and pounced on him with a cry of triumph. The sight was too amusing to stop, so Aqua simply watched as Terra landed on the floor -again- with a meow of surprise.

Once Terra actually realized what happened, he started to fight back. They rolled around the floor, smacking each other with any body part they could. Ven tried to let out a playful hiss, but only a small, barely audible squeak came out. It was clear that, while Ven currently had the upper hand in their 'fight,' Terra was simply holding back so he wouldn't hurt the small kitten.

They all froze at the loud, jarring sound of metal jingling. Aqua stiffened, the fur on her tail and along her back puffing up out of instinct, even though she knew what was going on. Ven scrambled away, dashing down the hallway and disappearing from sight. Terra simply stayed where he was, calmly waiting for the door to open.

"Finally I'm home. Hey, I'm gonna go make myself a sandwich, alright Mom?" Riku walked into the house, removing the protective cloth on his feet and kicking them aside. He reached down to scratch Terra and Aqua's heads, then threw the shell on his back onto the couch.

Aqua looked around, trying to figure out where Ven hid. She didn't have to look long. The blond kitten creeped out from underneath the same couch Riku had thrown his bag onto. He trotted up to Riku, and with a loud meow, made his presence known to the boy. "Hey Ven," he said, picking the kitten up. "Why are you covered in dust?" he remarked, brushing some of the stray particles off of his fur. With a small huff, he set the kitten back down and wiped his hands off on his legs. "Don't tell me we have to give you a bath," he joked.

Ven trotted over to Aqua, looking utterly defeated. His fluffy tail dragged along the ground, and his eyes refused to move from the floor. He sat down next to her, and when he finally looked up, Aqua found herself staring at the biggest, saddest pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. "Ven, its okay. Didn't you hear Riku talking about wanting to eat? He can't eat if he's carrying you around."

"I know..." he meowed, refusing to meet her gaze. It broke Aqua's heart to see him so upset. There had to be something she could say to lift his spirits.

"How about going to go say hi to his mom? She'll probably pay attention to you," Aqua suggested, hoping that maybe that would cheer him up. His tail whipped straight up into the air, and he gave Aqua a grateful blink.

"I should! Thanks Aqua!" He bounded away, looked around the room, then came back to her, defeated yet again. "Where is she?"

The door opened again, the sudden sound and rush of air making Ven jump up into the air. Wide, scared eyes glanced at Aqua, begging for her comfort. She snorted in amusement, then gave the top of his head a reassuring lick. "I think that's who you're looking for."

They both looked at the door and watched Riku's mother set several large bags onto the table in the kitchen. With a small wave of his tail, Ven left Aqua's side to go greet the woman and hopefully get the attention he wanted.

Knowing how much the woman loved the little kitten, Ven wouldn't be back for a while. She spotted Terra a little ways away, lying next to the shell that Riku had cast off of his back. Somehow he had gotten all the way to the couch without her realizing; probably because she was too busy with Ven's antics. She hopped up on the couch and set next to him, keeping one eye on his side to see if he was really asleep or not. She couldn't tell if he was asleep or not.

Curiosity got the better of her, so after a few seconds she started poking his side with her paw. He didn't react.

Realizing that the other cat he was fast asleep and probably wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, she jumped off the couch. Riku's mom was busy petting Ven, and Riku was sitting at the table eating a sandwich, watching his mother coo at the delighted kitten.

Aqua turned around and walked down the hall, knowing that there wasn't anything else for her in the main part of the house. At that moment, sunbathing and maybe a nice nap afterward sounded like a good idea.

* * *

If you know me, you know I'm a HUGE Roxas fangirl. Strangely, I don't fangirl over Ven. ._. They're exactly the same, but at the same time, they're completely different. It doesn't help that my own personal fanon makes Ven 12, so he becomes more OMG SO CUTE HNNNNGGGGGGGGG than Roxas is.

I didn't make Terra that derp-ish, but I kind of don't want to, because I want him to be at least partially competent.

Oh, and Riku eating a sandwich is a running gag. Expect to see that a lot. xD

Well, I'm done. Hope you guys liked this chapter, tell me what you thought.

Until next Tuesday~


	4. Snow Day

Dedicated to my friend the Perv Monkay (yes MonKAY). I'm expecting those cookies now. :U

* * *

Every single resident of Kairi's house was in some form of panic. While Xemnas and his kin were desperately looking for Vexen, Axel was trotting through the house, complaining at the top of his lungs with Saix close at his heels, Larxene, Marluxia, and Luxord were trading stories about the 'white rain,' and Demyx was trying to explain to Roxas what the snow was. Meanwhile, Kairi was excitedly darting about the house, happily chattering into the phone glued to her ear, pulling on extra layers of clothes so she can go outside.

When it came to snowy days, Vexen went absolutely mad. The second Lexaeus saw the gentle flakes falling from the sky, he alerted his kin. Once Vexen had been found, they kept him on close watch, making sure that he was oblivious to the layer of snow built up outside.

Normally, they'd convince one of the humans to simply let Vexen outside so they wouldn't have to deal with him, but because of his rather unpleasant experience with some nasty thorns, he had to have his normally thick golden coat trimmed short. He used to be the fluffiest out of all of the cats, but because of this accident, his title was given to Marluxia. (Much to Vexen's distaste; after all, in his mind, it was Marluxia's fault that he fell into the thorns in the first place.)

They weren't quite sure how, but Vexen had gotten out of their sight. They automatically split up to search for the wayward cat. Zexion and Xaldin patrolled the second floor, Xigbar and Lexaeus searched the main floor, while Xemnas stood guard by the back door. Every single cat, even Vexen in his snow-crazed state, knew better than to try to get out using the front door; there was no fence, and monsters were always around in a constant state of anger.

Xemnas looked around, keeping a vigilant eye on his surroundings. Alert, focused eyes scanned the room, searching for any flash of gold fur. Unfortunately, he kept getting distracted by Roxas's thrashing tail. He sent a warning growl directed at Demyx, who thankfully got the message and quickly dragged the protesting kitten out of the room.

* * *

Guilt had been gnawing at Marluxia's insides for a while. It wasn't _entirely_ his fault that Vexen had been trapped in the rosebush, but he knew that the older cat blamed him for his lustrous coat getting trimmed. While Marluxia was proud of his new found status as fluffiest cat in the house, he didn't like Vexen thinking that Marluxia did it on purpose. It was just an accident.

He tuned out the other cat's stories, too deep in his own thoughts. He had a feeling that he should go find Vexen and attempt to apologize right away, but he wasn't sure why. There was just a nagging voice in the back of his head, telling him to go find the golden cat. "I'll be back soon," he murmured absently, trotting away from the two -now confused- blond cats. He found himself unconsciously heading towards the girl's room, fondly remembering the large, comfortable bed he had claimed for himself.

The door was open, but there was only a small crack between the door and the wall that he wouldn't be able to fit though. Luckily, he had practice with this problem. Standing up on his hind legs, he pushed the door open and wedged his way into the room.

The girl was sitting on his bed, messily tying a tantalizing string to her boots. The phone was lying useless at her side, no longer used to communicate with her friend.

Vexen was nowhere to be found, but the fresh scent of crisp winter air with an undertone of peppermint was at Marluxia's nostrils, telling him that the gold cat was close by.

The girl finished lacing up her boots, then bounced up off of her bed and pushed the door shut. "Marly, come look at this!" She snatched him from his spot on the floor, eliciting a surprised meow from the pink cat. She set him down on the windowsill, and happily flung the window open.

A blast of cold air ruffled his fur, making him glare in disgust at the offending bad weather. Snow gently danced down from the sky, landing softly in the layer of downy fluff covering the ground. Part of him wanted to go outside and actually feel the snow, but the cold air threatening to seep through his fur and into his skin warned him against it.

Marluxia froze when he heard a triumphant yowl. A flash of gold rushed by them, flinging itself out of the window and gracefully landing in the snow. When Marluxia looked again, the flash was gone, and the only traces of it ever existing were the rough pawprints engraved in the snow.

"Vexen?" The girl asked slowly. "Marly, was that Vexen? I'm gonna go look for him. Stay here and be good." She left the room, shutting the door behind her and trapping Marluxia in the room, but conviently forgetting to shut the window.

That gold blur must have been Vexen. Wanting to make sure that his rival wouldn't freeze to death outside before the girl found him, manually overriding his common sense, Marluxia boldly hopped out of the window.

He landed in the snow with a muffled thump. The deceiving fluff on the ground froze his paws, wetting the fur protecting his thin legs from the cold. He ignored it in favor of glancing around for the other cat. A golden tail popped out of a pile of snow, thrashing wildly and setting off the brilliant shade of his fur.

"Vexen?" He meowed, walking closer to the pile of snow. He heard an odd sound coming from the pile...an odd sound that sounded suspiciously like a purr. He held back a snort at the thought of Vexen (of all cats!) _purring_.

Marluxia glanced over the edge of the pile, and saw Vexen blissfully rolling around, making a small crater in the pile of snow. The snow clung to his short fur, but he was too busy purring to notice it or the cat watching him.

He was going to freeze out here if he kept it up. At that moment, Marluxia had a coat three times thicker than Vexen's, and the cold bit his skin through the protective coat of fur. Icy flakes landed on his back and stubbornly clung to his whiskertips. His paws were blanketed by the snow, and the fur was slick with melted snow.

"First the peppermint plants, now it's snow...he must really like rolling," Marluxia mused. He took a deep breath, trying to make his meow sound serious. "Vexen, come on. You're going to freeze out here," Marluxia said, trying to reason with the golden cat without having to stoop to a begging tone. He would never beg his rival for anything, because whatever his rival could do, he could do better.

After all, he was the cuter of the two cats. Sure, Vexen was gold, but Marluxia was the one with the luxurious, silky soft coat that even travelled up his rosy ears, ending in furry tufts like his sister's fur. He was the one with the coat that's hue was more brilliant than any of the roses in the garden. He was the one with the long, fluffy tail that ended in even longer strands of fur arranged into a club shape. He was the one with the stunning, icy gaze that melted even the coldest of hearts. In his opinion, his looks were superior in every way to Vexen's.

Vexen stopping rolling, shooting an emerald glare up at the pink cat. "I'll be fine. Besides, why should you care?" He sneered. "You were the one who forced them to cut my fur off."

Of course. Vexen wouldn't let that incident go, not even out in the freezing snow. "It was an accident!" Marluxia shot back, now offended and trying in vain to convince the other cat of his innocence. "I would never do something like that to you!"

The gold cat snorted with disgust. "Of course you would. Now go away and let me get back to what I was doing." He flicked up his nose, then started rolling around again, visibly trying his hardest to ignore the pink cat. The purr was absent this time.

"How many times to I have to say I'm sorry! Now please, come back inside. It's too cold for you out here." Marluxia gave up at that point, his usual teasing, prideful attitude completely replaced by a pleading meow. The girl still wasn't here, and probably wouldn't even find Vexen out here. It was up to him to get the other cat back to safety and warmth.

A reply came from Vexen, muffled by the snow. "I'm fine." An involuntary shiver ran through his body, but he seemingly ignored it and kept rolling; probably to keep his pride intact. Marluxia knew that Vexen was a stubborn, proud cat - he was as well.

Worry overcame Marluxia's senses, overriding even the cold nipping at his nose. He wouldn't be able to convince him to come with him; but force sounded like a lovely option. He stepped closer to the gold cat and bit into his scruff, making sure to get deep enough to get a decent grip without hurting him. Vexen yowled in surprise and started to write in his grasp, but was unable to get free.

Marluxia kept dragging him to the porch, amazed at how light the other cat was. He had never realized how thin Vexen actually was; his old coat made him look three times fatter than he actually was. In reality, the golden cat was thin and bony, but nonetheless intimidating.

It was getting harder and harder for him to hold onto Vexen as he dragged him closer to the porch. He hissed and spat, contorting his body in any was possible in order to get a swipe at his attacker and get free. Marluxia remained calm the entire time, leaning back whenever a claw came too close for his comfort.

When they finally got to the porch, Marluxia let Vexen go, who immediately spun around and swiped Marluxia on the nose. "Why did you do that!" He spat, giving Marluxia a glare colder than the snow itself.

His nose twitched as small rivulets of blood began to appear. The cold air stung the scratches, making him wince in pain. "Because I couldn't let you freeze out here, like I know you would gladly do."

Vexen hissed at him again. "Do you think I'm some kind of stupid _kitten,_ Marluxia? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" He growled, lashed out at Marluxia again, who stepped back in time to avoid Vexen's claws. He fought down the growl threatening to rise in his throat.

Even the idea of apologizing now seemed ridiculous. Vexen was too mad to hear an apology, let alone accept one. Rather than say something and rile him up even more, Marluxia simply sat down, curling his long, fluffy tail around his paws. Even though there was no snow on the patio ground, it was still freezing cold to the touch, making it rather uncomfortable to sit on.

They heard the familiar sound of a door opening, and looked back and watched the girl walk out. Spotting Vexen, she ran over and snatched him up. "Bad kitty! You weren't supposed to go outside!" She chastised, though Vexen didn't seem to care.

She cradled the upset cat in her arms, then beckoned for Marluxia to come with a single finger. She opened the door, waiting for Marluxia to run in first. He trotted inside, and the girl closed the door behind herself, carrying Vexen off to wherever she was going. He gave one final hiss to Marluxia, only to be rewarded with a swift tap on the nose and a stern no from the girl.

Marluxia waved his tail at the retreating figure of the girl, then noticed Xemnas crouched by the back door. He turned to the pink cat, then curtly asked, "Vexen got out?" Marluxia nodded. "Her window?" Marluxia nodded again.

Xemnas slowly stood up, taking a few extra seconds to stretch across the floor, letting out a lazy yawn. "Thank you for getting him back in. Kairi will make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

Marluxia hummed in acknowledgment, watching Xemnas slowly stride off, pride welling up inside of his chest. Not only had he saved the alpha cat some grief, he had saved his rival. While the gold cat certainly didn't see it that way, Marluxia did. It was a wonderful feeling, spreading over his body like a warm blanket. It went down to his paws and to the tip of his tail, even traveling down his whiskers, making them twitch slightly. He sat down where Xemnas had sat before, slowly curling up, savoring the feeling glowing inside.

He deserved it.

* * *

The girl set Vexen down on the floor, shutting the door behind her with a loud 'click.' "Bad kitty," she stated off-handedly, as if it was a simple fact. Vexen bristled with rage.

They knew, they all knew, that he loved being in the snow. Every single time it snowed since he was born, long before he came to live in the house, he was always allowed outside. Even when he was a tiny kitten, smaller than that scrap of fluff that arrived recently, he was allowed outside.

He sent death glares in waves up to the girl, but her back was turned as she rummaged through a drawer. He kept his tail from thrashing around wildly like he wanted it to, so she wouldn't feel the need to pick him up again.

She turned around, and with a huge smile on her face, dangled an odd scrap of fabric in front of his nose. "Found it!" She announced happily, glancing down at Vexen's confused expression.

What good would a scrap of fabric do? Besides, it's not like it was going to be for him or anything. It was probably another one of those weird things she put on her head...

...Which is what Vexen thought until she scooped him up, plopped him on the bed, and pulled the weird piece of fabric over his head. She tugged it down until it was on his chest, then gently grabbed his paws and maneuvered them into the holes, ignoring his protests.

The girl beamed at Vexen, which only made him more confused. He tried to examine the thing covering his torso; it was made of the weird fabric the girl wore whenever it was cold outside, and it stopped a little ways before his hips. There were holes cut for his head and legs, and wearing it made him feel warm, for some odd reason.

"Now that you have your new sweater on, it's time to go outside!" She picked him up, making sure to spend a few extra seconds readjusting him in her arms to make him comfortable before departing. She opened the back door and stepped outside again, much to Vexen's delight - mostly because of the growing realization that he would be able to play in the snow again, but partially due to the confused and slightly offended look Marluxia was giving them as they went outside.

When she set him down in the middle of the yard, right on top of a particularly fluffy pile of snow, Vexen noticed how the cold didn't sting his skin as much as it did before. With a purr of delight, he dived into the snow, pouncing on small snow drifts, occasionally reaching up to bat away a few stray snowflakes. The girl sat and watched a few feet away, thoroughly amused, though he didn't notice.

Aside his loud purr and the sound of the snow crunching underneath his paws, the yard was silent. Occasionally he'd stop batting the snowflakes so he could simply lay down and roll in the snow, able to fully enjoy his snow day because of the fabric on his chest, keeping him warm.

Maybe...maybe Marluxia didn't do such a bad thing. He made a mental note to maybe give him another chance and accept his apology, but at that moment, nothing could interrupt his bliss. This time, his snow day would end when _he_ wanted it to.

* * *

Tueday's are good days; especially today. Hope you guys are also having a nice day. :D

This chapter is inspired by the day we had a snow day. They're huge events, because we only get them once every other year. It was so beautiful outside, and I wanted to write a chapter with Marluxia and Vexen. The rivalry between them is a lot of fun to write. ^^ That's pretty much all I have to say.


	5. He's Back

Dedicated to my good friend Ari, who is a major source of inspiration and help. :3 Love ya.  


* * *

For some reason, the entire house was acting off. Kairi had an air of excited nervousness about her, and before long, the entire house felt the same. Even the calmest, most stoic cats seemed excited.

Well, the entire house except Roxas.

The kitten trotted around the house, trying his best to figure out why the house was in such a frenzy, but the only answer he got was the message, "he's coming." Nobody would tell him who 'he' was, nor why he was so important.

He tried going to to Axel and asking, but upon finding out that the older cat was asleep, decided against asking him. It wouldn't be very nice if he woke up him just to ask such a small question, especially when Axel never woke him up for stupid reasons.

He tried to pretend to be as excited as the other cats, but unlike them, he had nothing to be excited about. Nobody would play with him. Everyone was too busy and playing by himself wasn't as fun as playing with someone else. The springy butterflies and the long strings were only interesting for so long by himself.

That didn't stop him from trying. He swatted the string around and pounced on the springy butterfly, but after a while, it felt like a chore. He wasn't even tired; just bored. So he left the string and went to go find Kairi, hoping that she would play with him and if not, pet him. He felt lonely.

Her voice was distant, but audible. He followed the sound to her room and stopped in the doorway to take in the odd sight.

Every single cat was now in her room. Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion were all crowded around her, either on her lap or right next to it. Meanwhile, the other six were gathered around her feet. Every single cat was staring up at the device in her hand like it was some sort of mystical object.

Kairi's tone was brimming with joy. Her words poured out to the device and after a short period of silence, she'd start talking again. She did that fairly often to the device, but Roxas never understood why. How was she able to communicate with it when it never talked back?

"Really? Today! A surprise? Will you tell me now? Please?" He never heard her talking like that before. She was the almighty ruler of the house, yet she sounded like a kitten, trying it's best to convince its mother to let it go play. She had spoken into the device before, but her tone was never like this. The others usually didn't care when she spoke to the device, but now it was the only thing they saw. What had changed?

"Please?" She pleaded again. After a while, she grumbled under her breath. "Fine, fine. How much longer?" There was another period of silence, which was quickly broken by a loud shout of joy, causing Roxas to jump up in shock. The cats seemed unfazed, their gazes still firmly set on the device. Not even a single ear twitched at the jarring noise.

Kairi touched the device and made it mad, so it beeped at her. She dropped it on the bed in protest, but it didn't seem to affect her mood. "Guys, he'll be here in an hour!" She announced happily. The other cats ignited with energy, and yowls of triumph bounced around the room. Roxas, not wanting to be left out, joined in with a happy mew, but it fell short compared to their yowls of pure joy.

After the yowls had finally died down, Kairi stood up. "I'm gonna go clean up, so you guys be good, alright?" She left the room, leaving the cats to chatter excitedly amongst themselves.

Roxas took this chance to actually walk into the room and get closer to the other cats. He padded up to Axel, then sat down and gently tapped his side with a single blond paw. "Axel?" He meowed. "I don't get what's going on."

He spun around to face the kitten, their noses just inches away from each other. "Did you hear? He's coming back home!" He practically yelled into the kitten's face, forcing him to lower his ears and back away.

"I heard that, but who does everyone keep talking about?" Roxas mewed pitifully, his ears slumped pathetically against his head. However, Axel had already trotted off to Saix and the two older cats completely barred the kitten out of their reality.

He tried going up to the other cats and asking what was going on, but he was only given similar results. It was as if all of the cats were under mind-control, like what the catnip did to them. Nobody would tell him what was going on, and it wasn't like he could go and ask Kairi. She couldn't speak cat.

Completely defeated, Roxas padded out of Kairi's room to go find someplace to nap. When he woke up, hopefully everyone would be back to normal.

* * *

When the faint, far-away sound of metal jingling against itself was heard, most of the cats (save that kitten...the one who was covered in catnip before) dashed to the front door. Larxene, firmly aware of her place in the hierarchy, moved by to allow the cats who had lived with them first get closer to the door. However, her respect only stretched to the original six, leaving the other cats stuck behind her. If they tried to push past her, she gave them a warning growl and a few well-placed swipes.

The human girl was the last to arrive. She stepped over the group of cats to reach the door, turning the knob and yanking it open.

The cats' gazes were transfixed on the figure just outside the door. They watched in awe and adoration as the figure – their benevolent king, the almighty ruler of the house – walked in, his arm positioned as if he was holding something, though Larxene couldn't make out what it was from her spot on the floor.

Ansem was home.

"Dad, you're finally home!" The girl yelled, lunging at him and wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug. He chuckled mirthfully, returning the hug with his free arm.

The laughter stopped, suddenly replaced by a regretful, somber tone. "Kairi, I'm so sorry for leaving you home alone for so long." He looked down at the cats, addressing them with the same respect he gave his child. "My faithful friends, I have to apologize to you as well. However, my work has promised me that there will be no more business trips like that for a long time."

Purrs of pure joy reverberated in every cat's chest, culminating in a chorus of happiness. The girl smiled up at him. "Good." Her gaze changed to what was in the man's arms. "Hey, what are you holding?" she asked, craning her neck to try to get a glimpse of what was nestled in his arms.

"Now," he said, quieting the roar down to a gentle buzz, "I want to introduce you all to the newest member of our family." The girl gasped softly as he slowly lowered down a pale blonde scrap of fluff.

Larxene stood up on her hind legs, ignoring the hushed murmurings of confusion coming from the other cats. She could care less what the otehr cats thought; she just wanted a look for herself.

A pale blonde kitten looked around, mewing softly in confusion. Sky blue eyes darted around in fear, trying their best to get a good look at the other cats without letting them know that they were being examined. A blue ribbon, the same color as her eyes, was tied around her neck, ending in a large bow. The kitten was even smaller than the one that already lived here, both in size and weight. A gust of wind could knock over the thin little creature.

Most importantly, the new kitten was a girl.

"Her name is Namine," Ansem explained. "When I was driving to the airport, I saw a cardbox box on the side of the road, getting drenched by the rain. I pulled over to examine it and her drenched and shivering in the box, along with a small note with her name on it. I couldn't leave her there to die."

"I'm glad you took her!" The girl said, using her foot as a barrier to keep the cats from rushing the new kitten. "Now we have two kittens in the house!"

"Yes," Ansem agreed heartily, giving another chuckle. "We do—since when have we had two kittens? Kairi..."

However, Larxene ignored their argument in favor of trying to get closer to the kitten. She edged her way past the other cats, pushing through the crowd and jumping over the girl's foot to get to the kitten.

Namine, just noticing Larxene approaching her, nervously backed away from her until she ran into Ansem's leg with a surprised squeak. Larxene meowed in amusement, but kept walking towards the frightened kitten. "Don't worry, little kit. I'm not going to hurt you," she cooed. Namine could only look up at her; tail between her legs, failing to hold back the shivers coursing through her body.

Was she really that intimidating? Now, she knew the other kitten was absolutely terrified of her, but she always assumed that was because he was a wimp. She leaned down at licked the top of the kitten's head, trying her best not to gag at the smell of dirty, polluted rainwater. "See? I'm not going to hurt you."

Thankfully, the kitten finally realized that Larxene had no intention to hurt her and calmed down a little. She was still frightened, but the fear was directed more towards the group of cats staring at her and not Larxene. "W-who are you?" she asked. Her meow was so quiet that Larxene was barely able to make it out.

"Larxene," the older cat answered. "Don't worry, those cats won't hurt you. I'll make sure of it."

* * *

Roxas woke up to the sound of an unfamiliar human voice. Fear and panic threatened to set in, but he heard no sounds of violence, so it couldn't be that bad...right?

He carefully made his way down the hall and past various rooms to the source of the noise. He stopped every few steps to check around, but besides the strange voice and the odd lack of cats, the house was normal.

When he made his way into the main room, he had to use every bit of his willpower not to run. Right by the front door stood a strange, imposing man. He was truly magnificent, towering over both Kairi and the cats at his heels. "There he is!" Kairi said, pointing straight at the kitten.

Even from across the room, Roxas felt piercing, strangely warm and compassionate blue eyes boring deep into him. The blond fur on his head and surrounding his face was oddly the exact same shade of Luxord's fur. The man held himself like a ruler would, proud and tall. "Ah, so that is the kitten you didn't inform me about, Kairi." His deep, rich voice calmed the kitten down, giving him the courage to creep towards the man and the group of cats at his feet.

Kairi giggled nervously. "Yeah...Dad, this is Roxas. Roxas, this is my dad, Ansem," she said, nodding slightly. "Guys, move so Roxas can come closer," she ordered, pushing them back with her foot.

The kitten took the cue and quickly trotted through the newly made pathway, keeping both his head and tail down so the other cats wouldn't get offended. He froze when he heard a soft growl coming from ahead of him.

Slowly, he looked up to see Larxene standing next to a kitten even smaller than him. The kitten's whiskers twitched with curiosity, but Larxene kept her tail in front of the kitten. The queen kept growling, daring him to come near her.

"Larxene my dear, be nice. He's just a kitten." Larxene looked up at the man, then reluctantly removed her tail from in front of the kitten.

"Go on Namine. Say hi to him," Larxene urged, gently nudging the small kitten forward with her nose. Namine gave her a worried mew, but that only made Larxene nudge her again.

"U-um...h-h-hello," she mewed, her tail glued between her legs. She was so quiet, he was barely able to make out what she said. "I-I'm Namine."

She was just so tiny and delicate. While Roxas knew (and was not proud of) his small size, Namine was even tinier than him and probably much younger. "I'm Roxas," he meowed.

"Roxas..." she repeated his name, trying her best to get used to it. "Do y-you...d-do you...could we maybe...b-be f-friends?" She asked, shrinking into herself.

Finally! He didn't have to ask another cat -another cat usually meant Axel- to play with him anymore. He always felt bad whenever he did, since the older cat liked sleeping much, much more.

"Friends? You're asking if he could be friends?" He meowed in disbelief.

Namine whimpered, looking back to Larxene for comfort. She quickly backed away, but her legs tangled together and she fell to the ground. Larxene bristled, crouching down to get ready to attack him.

"We already are friends!" He mewed happily, keeping a wary eye on Larxene, who slowly settled back down. "You don't have to ask."

"R-really? We are?" Namine asked, slowly sitting up, shyly glancing down at her paws. "I-I've never had a-a friend before..."

"You do now," Larxene added, padding over and giving the female kitten a gentle nuzzle. "You have two of them."

* * *

Out of all the chapters I've written so far, I think this one is my favorite. I even turned it into my English teacher for extra credit...although the names are changed. ^^;

Not really much to say, besides that. Hope you all liked it, and see you next Tuesday.


	6. Oni

Dedicated to my friend Adriana, who signed up to FFN because of me. :]

* * *

"Mom, I'll be back in a bit! Going to Kairi's!" Sora yelled, wheeling his trusty bike out of the garage and onto the driveway. He held it steady, listening for his mother's approval before hopping on the bike and speeding down the road.

When he was coming back from the convenience store, he spotted a kid sitting next to a cardboard box. Curious, he stopped to examine the box and talk to the kid. Turned out, some feral cat had kittens underneath his porch, but most of them had died and the mother had already ran away. His parents wouldn't let him keep the kitten, so he was trying to give it away. If, by the time his parents got back, the kitten wasn't gone, they were going to take the kitten to the pound.

Sora knew that wouldn't end well. He volunteered at the only shelter in town, and they had a policy to instantly put feral animals to sleep, regardless of age.

He would adopt the kitten himself, but he knew it was pointless to ask his parents. It was enough of a struggle to keep the cats he already had, even though he got them years ago. So after dropping the candy and the trading cards he bought at home, he rushed off to Kairi's house.

Both Kairi and Riku's houses were too far away to walk to. While they usually got one of their parents to drive them around, Sora preferred to use his bike. It was fast enough to get around; most importantly, it was fun.

Today, he had a mission. He couldn't delay - a life was at stake. While he could go to Riku's house and still complete his mission, Kairi's house was much closer. He sped down the street, willing his bike to go faster than it ever had before. Normally he'd just cut in between the houses to get there faster, but the slushy remains of their snow day stubbornly stuck to the ground, making it impossible for him to take his usual shortcuts.

Even if he was at the other end of the street, it was easy to spot Kairi's house. Ansem had a high paying job, which meant they could afford a large house. It was the only two-story house on the entire block, so he could see its outline even when it was at the tail end of a large line of houses.

He pulled the brakes at the last second, stopping just a few inches away from the ornate front door. After a few deep breaths to calm himself down from the sudden stop, he rang the doorbell.

Sora wasn't expecting the sight he got when the door opened. First off, Ansem was home, and second, there was a kitten that he didn't recognize at his feet, next to Larxene and Roxas. Normally, he would take a little bit to become acquainted with the adorable fluffle, but _he was on a mission._

"Sora?" Kairi and Ansem asked in unison, demanding an explanation. He grinned sheepishly. Clearly he didn't barge in at the best time, but...

"There's a life at stake!" He announced. "Kairi, Ansem-" Sora never really cared much, but some people thought that it was amazing that he was able to interrupt himself when he was talking, "-oh hey Ansem- We need to go!" He shouted, catching every single living being in front of him off guard. 16 pairs of eyes stared at him, which only made his grin grow wider. "Uh...yeah. We do."

Kairi sputtered, flapping her mouth in an attempt to say something. "Sora...that made no sense," she finally managed to say.

"Still, we need to go!" He said, growing more and more anxious by the second. "If we don't leave now, she might..." He trailed off, unable to bring himself to finish his sentence.

Ansem cleared his throat. "Sora," he said, gesturing to the boy, "to be honest, I did not comprehend a single word you said. However, whatever it is, it must be important. Sora, you can explain on the way there."

Sora hopped off his bike, making sure kick the kickstand down before dashing off to catch up to Kairi and Ansem. He hopped in the backseat, motioning for his friend to sit in the back with him. Once they had gotten buckled in -Ansem was very touchy when it came to safety-, they sped down the street.

As soon as they pulled out of the driveway, Sora began explaining what was going on, stopping only to give directions.

"There!" Sora shouted, pointing to a kid sitting on the side of the road. The kids rushed out of the car just seconds after Ansem pulled over, already looking over the side of the box before the man took his keys out of the ignition.

"Hey. Didn't think you'd come back," the kid said, watching Sora and Kairi try to coax the kitten out from underneath the solitary blanket in its box. "She your girlfriend or something?"

"What? No, of course not! She's one of my best friends!" Sora snapped, momentarily distracted from his new mission of trying to show Kairi the kitten. Thankfully, Ansem walked up just after Sora snapped and just as Kairi triumphantly held up the kitten.

A black female kitten stared at the teens in wide-eyed wonder. She mewed in confusion, casting a longing look back down at the box. "She's adorable," Kairi said, gently cradling the kitten in her arms. Ansem joined her side, slowly scratching behind the kitten's ears, earning him a quiet purr.

"Dad, can we keep her?" Kairi begged, cuddling the kitten closer to her. The kitten mewed squeaked in surprise, then followed up with an annoyed mew at the sudden lack of attention. Sora gladly took over their role, stealing the kitten from Kairi's grasp and petting her himself. For a feral, she was surprisingly sweet.

"Yeah, she is pretty sweet," the kid said, seemingly reading Sora's thoughts. Sora stared at him in disbelief, wondering how he managed to figure out what he was thinking. The kid ignored him and continued. "Didn't give her a real name, so just name her whatever."

"Well, what did you call her?" Sora asked, now slightly curious. Kairi was still trying to convince Ansem to let them keep the kitten, so he had a few minutes to get a chance to actually talk to the boy.

"Eh, my parents called her and her mother the demons who lived under the porch, so I called her mom Oni. The kitten used to be Shadow, but once her mom ran away and she came out from under the porch, I started calling her Oni."

"But why Oni?"

"I think it means demon. It sounds a lot cooler than demon, that's for sure," the kid said, scratching the top of the kitten's head. "She may be calm now, but she can be wild when she wants to."

Sora turned to face Ansem and Kairi when he heard Ansem's booming, joyous laughter. "You win, my dear. I guess _one_ more cat can't hurt."

"Yes!" Kairi whooped, pumping her fist in the air. "Now, what should we name her?" She asked, skipping over to Sora and taking her new kitten back. Meanwhile, the kid picked up the box and headed back inside, giving Sora a final wave before closing the door.

Sora chewed the bottom of his lip and hummed, deep in thought. "Since your other cats all have X in their name, we should put an X in her name," Sora suggested, though his mind was still drawing a blank on how her name should be rearranged.

Ansem opened his mouth to say something, but Kairi cut him off. "I got it! Her name will be Xion!" At that, Ansem simply chuckled and nodded in agreement.

As they got back in the car, Kairi smiled at Sora, then at the newly-named Xion, who watched her in confusion. "I think you'll like it with us," she told the kitten. "You'll fit in perfectly."

Sora smiled back at his friend, knowing that Xion was getting a nice home. Even though she had just gotten the kitten, she clearly cared for her. She'd get attached to the new kitten, and quickly. She had gotten attached to each and every one of her cats, from the moment she saw them. Some more than others, but when it came down to it, she loved all of her cats.

Maybe her original name really did fit her (well, a toned down version of it), since the second Kairi loosened her hold on Xion, the kitten jumped off of her lap and started exploring the car. She happily darted around, eventually settling for sniffing around the passenger seat. She was going to be a handful, that was for sure.

* * *

Early update today. Why? Because I'm sick and tired and I didn't go to school. Hope you guys are doing better than I am.

Yeah, Xion in Catnip =/= Xion in canon. I didn't know what to do with her personality, so eventually I settled on Oni!Xion. She's a lot of fun to write. :3 And while I love the Axel-Roxas-Xion power trio, in Catnip it just doesn't fit. :/ You'll see why much later once I actually write more Axel, but it just wouldn't work.

Honestly, I'm surprised that the characters grew so much. When I first started writing this, I didn't expect them to have much depth, to be honest. I expected a lot of them to be flat, one-note characters, while in reality the more I write, the more fleshed-out they become. (And on a nice note: I love writing Catnip!Saix. At the moment, he's one of my favorites.)

And on one last note, the song Crash and Burn by Jesse McCartney (yes I listen to Jesse McCartney I know I know) reminds me of the Forest Temple music from TLoZ: Ocarina of Time. The beats sound kinda similar, and because of it I now want a remix of those two songs together. I've played them at the same time, and while the beat is off at times, it sounds pretty cool. Though don't get me wrong; both songs are epic alone.


	7. Hope

Dedicated to my cat Neffie, who I will always love forever and always.  
_

* * *

It was supposed to be a simple trip to the shelter. They found a stray, and they didn't have the heart to leave the poor thing outside with no shelter, but they couldn't take it._

_They could never take in the poor strays. No matter how many there were, it was always the same thing: not enough time to care for it, or no interest._

_Sora had all the time in the world to care for it. Ever since he could remember, he loved animals. Mommy would tell him to come back when they found the stray, but Sora knew better. Even at the tender age of six, he could tell the stray wouldn't hurt him._

_When they got to the shelter, stray dog in tow, Mommy let Sora go look at the kitties. He skipped down the hall, carefully examining each and every furry face, peacefully listening to each unique meow._

_They were all special, in their own way. Each pair of eyes, each pattern, each stripe, was unique and should be cherished. "I hope someone take you all home and gives you everything you deserve," he whispered. "I wish I could, but mommy and daddy don't like animals..."_

_He finally stopped at the kittens' cage, crouching down and hugging his knees so he could see inside. Several kittens were in the cage, either sleeping or playing with each other. They all seemed so happy, so full of hope that one day they would get a family to call their own. He wished he could be part of that family._

_The kittens who were awake stopped when they saw him, eyes widening in fear and confusion. "It's okay, kitties. I won't hurt you," he whispered, holding his hand out to the edge of the cage. He noticed that the gaps between the bars was just large enough to stick his hand through, but didn't, in fear of scaring the kittens._

_All of them ran away from his hand, backing up until their sides glued themselves to the back of the cage. Sora frowned, trying his best to blink away tears. Why didn't they like him? He wasn't scary...right? He was a good boy; a nice boy. He closed his eyes, unable to hold back the tears streaming down his cheeks._

_A small meow made him open his eyes. He looked down, rapidly blinking the tears away in an attempt to regain his sight. Everything blurred; the cage, the walls, and the small brown blob in front of him._

_He wiped his eyes with his sleeve until he could see again. A curious, inviting, almost pleading meow drew his eyes down toward the brown blob._

_It was a kitten. A chocolate brown one, with warm green eyes and small tufts of fur hanging off the tips of the kitten's ears. A thin green collar, the same shade as its eyes, was firmly secured around the kitten's neck. A small, golden tag read 'female, five weeks.'_

_She was tiny, due to her age. She stared at him inquisitively, then glanced down at his hand, waiting for it to come through the cage and pet her._

_Slowly, Sora wormed his hand through the bars and reached down to the kitten, gently scratching her head. She purred in delight, leaning into the touch. He opened a single emerald eye, full of love and adoration for him._

_At that moment, Sora knew that she was special. Within a few seconds, a bond had formed; like love at first sight, he knew that he would never forget this sweet little kitten._

_He had to take her home. Patiently he waited for his mommy to come back, gently petting the purring kitten. When she did, he looked up at her, eyes as wide as they could possibly go. "...mommy?" His voice was quiet, as if being too loud would break his chances._

_She clicked her tongue, looking down at him with an amused but tired smile. "Sweetie, what are you doing down there?" She asked, reaching her hand out to him. "We have to go home."_

_He knew it wasn't going to happen. He knew it deep in his heart, but something told him to ask anyway. "Mommy...can we keep her?" He asked, the words barely crawling out of his mouth. The kitten meowed in agreement, focusing her emerald stare on Mommy,, trying to convince her herself._

_He heard a quiet sigh escape Mommy's lips. She shook her head slowly, bringing up her fingers to kneed the bridge of her nose. "Sweetheart, we've been over this. We're not getting any pets."_

"_B-but..." Sora whimpered, feeling angry at himself for even asking. The tears were building up again, even though he had no reason to cry. This was going to happen; it was pointless for him to have even asked._

_The kitten mewed, her tiny voice cutting through Sora's thoughts. She looked up at him, her unblinking stare not helping him in the least bit._

_But he loved that stare. He had just met this kitten, but he already loved her. He had to keep her and protect her and love her. They were best friends._

_They were family._

"_No buts. You know we can't take care of any animals. We have to go, sweetie." She reached out to him again, gently urging him to take her hand. "Come on."_

_Sora pulled out all the stops. He started wailing, letting the tears flow down his cheeks. He screamed and shouted, throwing a complete fit fueled by his kitten's surprised mews._

_Mommy tried to calm him down, but he only got louder, setting the animals off. An entire cacophony of wails and screeches echoed through the small room, alerting the staff at the shelter. One of the men who worked at the shelter quickly burst into the room, giving Mommy a demanding glare._

_She looked back at Sora, who was still screaming and wailing. He was a bad boy for throwing a fit, and he would probably get in trouble, but if he got his kitten, it was worth it._

_He didn't know how long his tantrum had lasted, but finally Mommy said, "alright, alright, we'll get the kitten."_

_Instantly Sora shut up, sitting up and giving Mommy the biggest smile he had ever smiled. His kitten mewed happily, pawing at the cage, wanting to know when they could finally take her home. "Thank you!" He said happily, getting up and diving at Mommy, hugging her tightly. "Thank you thank you thank you!"_

"_Now sweetie, you need to let me go now. I have to talk to one of the workers so they'll let her out. Meanwhile, try to think of a name for the kitten," she told Sora, who happily obliged. He let go of her and plopped back down in front of the cage with his kitten in it._

_She watched him, patiently waiting for him to start petting her again. He got the message, and stuck his hand through, running a few fingers along her back. She purred, contently flopping down on the floor._

"_Hmm..." He bit the bottom of his lip, trying to think of a name. "Kitty, I think I'll call you...Olette."_

_Olette mewed happily, her purr vibrating through her voice, making Sora giggle. "I'm glad you like it."

* * *

_

Olette had always been sickly, much to the chagrin of Sora's parents. Thankfully, she would get over her sicknesses fast, and she never needed much care that Sora couldn't provide. As the years went by and Sora started volunteering at the shelter, he learned better ways to take care of her and keep her healthy. The last few years, she hadn't gotten sick for longer than a day or two.

But she had never been this bad. In just a day and a half, she had gone from being healthy and happy, meowing for attention to not being able to move from her spot on Sora's bed. The other cats, Hayner and Pence, stayed nearby, occasionally giving her a lick of comfort.

Sora honestly didn't know what to do. He had tried everything he knew how to do, but she was only getting worse. All of the nearby vets were already closed, and the only one that was open overnight was a two-hour drive away.

He could barely stand to see her so sick, but he couldn't leave. He couldn't let her be alone, especially if she...

He couldn't even think of the word. Biting back tears, he ran his hand over her side, feeling her ribs jabbing out much, much farther than they should have. When had she stopped eating? Why hadn't he noticed?

"Oh god...Olette, don't leave me. Please," he whispered, running his hand over her side again, as if the rhythm of his hand would return the rhythm of her breathing to normal. Her breaths were short, ragged, few and far-between, and the dull thump in her chest wasn't much better.

Olette meowed weakly, her usually sweet mew reduced to nothing more than a raspy breath. She looked up at him, using all of her strength to lift her head up and stare into his eyes. Her warm, emerald eyes shone with adoration, just liked they had the first day he saw her. They broke through the sheet of glass, piercing straight into his heart.

He couldn't hold back the tears anymore. They rolled down his cheeks, lazily lapping up every ounce of sadness and worry he tried to hold inside.

"Don't...don't..." Sora still couldn't force the word out. It stuck on the tip of his tongue, begging to be let out and finally spoken. He couldn't – no, he wouldn't accept what could happen. She was going to get better, and within a few days, she'd be back to normal.

"...die." The word itself hung in the air, startling both Hayner and Pence. They looked up at Sora, and if cats could cry, the boy knew that his cats would be shedding tears just as much as he was. "Olette...please. I love you."

She meowed again, not any stronger than before. It broke his heart, but he knew what she was trying to tell him. She needed him to be strong for her.

She loved him too.

Olette needed him to be strong. With a final sniffle, he wiped the tears away. She was going to get better; it wasn't a wish, but a fact. She wasn't going to leave him, and he wouldn't give up on her. Until her last breath, she would fight to live.

"Don't worry, Olette. I'm going to stay with you, no matter what," Sora said, his resolve firm. Nothing, and he meant _nothing_, would make him leave her side. She was one of his closest friends, just as important as Kairi or Riku.

And he did. He stayed with her, giving her comfort all throughout the night.

When the first rays of dawn shone into his room, he yawned, putting his hand over his face in an attempt to keep the sun from blinding him. He hadn't slept all night, and neither had Olette.

"Well," he said, looking down at the brown queen and giving her a smile, "we made it through the night."

She didn't look up. Fear and panic surged through him, but he fought it down, instead keeping a steady eye on her chest. It rose and fell in a steady rhythm, instantly calming him down.

She had fallen asleep. And when she woke up, Sora would still be there, ready to greet her.

* * *

Before anyone freaks out, no she did not die. Olette did not die. I wrote this because I was just so worried about my own cat...I had to get the feelings out somehow. So I got them out like this.

And I don't know if anyone else sees it, but the ending, at least to me, is very uplifting and sweet. I love it.

So everyone out there, having problems or even having a bad day, just know that there is hope, and that you should NEVER let go of it. I sound like a self-help booklet, but its true.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day. :3


	8. A New Family

Dedicated to all of my readers. And is Catnip getting updated on a Monday? Because today's my birthday, and I wanted to give all of you a little something. ^^  


* * *

Namine expected growling. She expected anger, disdain, callousness, _something_ unpleasant. 12 grown-up, surprised cats could have only meant trouble.

But instead of pain, she had gotten something entirely new to her: friends. Not one, but two, and one of them was even an adult! A fierce, strong, independent, powerful one too.

Her other new friend was a little kitten, just slightly bigger than her. His name was Roxas, and he was nice.

The cats slowly dispersed. Namine simply watched, making sure to avert her eyes whenever there was the slightest possibility that another cat could be looking back at her. Larxene stayed by her side, shooting growls and hisses at any cat who dared to come close. With a wave of his tail, Roxas left to go join an older red cat.

She jumped when the door opened not long after. The other cats she could still see froze and looked up at the door. Ansem and...the girl (Namine didn't know her name) walked in. "Hi everyone!" The girl greeted happily, making Namine wonder why she referred to them as if they were people too. Her old owner...now nothing more than a fuzzy blur in her memory, always talked to her like she was a cat.

"We got another kitten!" She set down a curious black kitten, who immediately noticed the two and trotted up to them. Larxene bristled warily, making Namine back up closer to her.

"Now, I'll let you guys get used to her for a bit. Her name's Xion. Be nice!" She said, taking Ansem's hand and skipping off, chatting about some strange human thing that Namine didn't quite understand.

Her attention was brought back to the kitten in front of her when Larxene's fur finally fell down. "Stay here," the older cat meowed quietly as she stalked towards the other cat. Nearby, other cats sat and watched, but with a snarl, she sent them off.

The black kitten...Xion, the girl called her, watched Larxene with wide, curious sapphire eyes that were filled to the brim with adoration and respect. Larxene leaned down to sniff her, then slowly stepped back. "Feral...?" She meowed in disbelief.

The black kitten tilted her head to the side. "Feral? What's that?" She mewed, slightly confused. Though her tone immediately flipped around, becoming instantly cheerful and excited. "You look strong. I wanna be like you when I'm older!" She mewed proudly, trying to puff her chest out.

Larxene snorted in amusement. "Eh, I'll tell you later," she meowed, whiskers twitching in indifference. "Xion, you're a pretty cool kitten, I'm Larxene," she introduced herself, calming Namine down slightly about the new cat. If Larxene liked her, then she was good, right?

Tentatively she crept forward until she was by Larxene's hip. Her thick, muscular tail bumped against her haunches, forcing her to get even closer to Xion, who eyed her curiously. "Who are you?" She asked, the curiosity her eyes showed multiplied 10 times over in her meow.

Namine's throat suddenly closed up. She squeaked in fear, looking up to Larxene for guidance. "She's Namine," the older blonde cat told Xion, nodding at them both in affirmation (for entirely different reasons). "Say hi," she commanded, gentle but firm.

She decided to try to focus on her paws, hoping that it would somehow calm down her racing heart. She got nervous around other cats...well, really when anything happened, but she wasn't sure why. "U-um...h-h-hello," she finally mewed after several moments of awkward silence.

"Hi Namine!" Xion greeted happily. "Do you wanna play together sometime? Promise I'll go easy!" She teased, purring in amusement. Namine twitched her ears, slightly confused at the other kitten's behavior. She was certainly outgoing, much more than Namine. At least the nervous butterflies in her stomach were floating away.

"S-sure..." She muttered, staring down at her paws. "S-so you'll b-be my friend too?" She asked hesitantly.

"I'll be your friend!" Xion darted closer to the blonde kitten, reassuringly putting her tail on her shoulder. "Now, I wanna go meet the other cats!" Before Namine could respond, Xion had already left. Sullen, she looked to Larxene for guidance.

"Don't worry," the older cat mewed, gently licking the top of Namine's head, "we'll see her soon. Now, how about I introduce you to the others?"

"U-um...o-okay. If you s-say so..." Namine mewed quietly, falling in step beside Larxene as they slowly made their way down the hall. Hopefully, they wouldn't be too mean to her.

* * *

As Xion soon found out, most of the cats didn't care much for her either way. The ones she had met besides the girls didn't react much when she approached them: Xemnas eyed her oddly, Xigbar imitated the expression people made when they were happy, Demyx didn't even wake up when she approached him, Luxord asked her if she knew where the dice was (she didn't even know what a dice was, let alone where to find it), Marluxia told her that he would tolerate her because Larxene liked her, Lexaeus didn't do anything when she approached him, even if he did look really powerful and scary, Vexen was with Ansem, and Zexion muttered something that she didn't understand.

The next cat she stumbled upon was a hulking black beast; almost as big as Lexaeus, but more muscular. Coarse black fur covered the entirety of his body, and when he turned to face her, she found herself held in place by two violet daggers.

The first thing that popped into Xion's mind about the cat-beast was how cool he was. "Yes...?" The cat asked, wary of her every move. His gaze softened slightly, freeing her from her spot, allowing her to come closer to him.

"You're...you're...so cool!" She mewed, sniffing his side and tapping his shoulder with her paw. While she wasn't that small for her age, compared to this monster of a cat, she was a little dwarf. "I bet you could even take on a dog!" She knew she couldn't, and that the only reason why she got away in the first place was because she was fast, but maybe he could also teach her how to be strong. Two strong cats were better than one.

The older cat huffed in amusement. "Just a terrier or two, but yes, I've taken on dogs before. Annoying, but not much of a hassle if you know where to scratch," he explained, sounding almost bored, as if he didn't know he had taken on a _dog_. Big or small, a dog was a dog, and dogs were vicious monsters.

Xion's eyes widened to an almost impossible size. "Whoa...you're just so cool. What's your name?"

"My name is Xaldin. And yours, little kitten?"

Her whiskers practically dripped happiness and adoration. "I'm Xion! Hi Xaldin!" She greeted. "Can we be friends?" She asked, realizing a tad too late that she was being incredibly blunt, even for her.

"Friends? I...guess," he answered, confused at her question. "For a kitten, you're rather strange. Kind of like Zexion, but less cryptic."

Xion mrrowed with laughter, deciding to take the statement as a compliment. "Thanks! Now, I'm gonna go look for some of the others, 'kay? See ya!" She waved her tail and set off down the hall, keeping an eye out for any other cats she hadn't met yet.

* * *

Meanwhile, Larxene was busy introducing Namine to the other cats. Most of them simply remained indifferent, which calmed Namine's fears down slightly. She had been expecting them to attack her, regardless of what Larxene had told her, but the older cat kept her promise.

They passed by Roxas, who walked dejectedly down the hall; ears down and tail dragging along the floor. Namine looked up at Larxene, who simply shook her head and motioned for the kitten to keep moving. "Roxas probably wants to be alone right now," she explained, a knowing tone in her voice. Rather than protest, Namine simply nodded and kept walking.

They soon walked in on a fight. Saix and Axel (Larxene whispered their names to Namine) circled each other, growling and snarling threats.

"Axel, all you ever do is spend time with that kitten!"

"You're not any better! You cling to Xemnas!"

With a loud yowl, Saix tackled Axel, sending him crashing to the floor. Namine quickly backed up, pressing herself fully into Larxene's side. Her heart pounded in her chest, sending waves of fear coursing along her spine. "Come on," the older cat whispered, adding a snort in for good measure, "we should let the idiots fight. They'll make up by tonight. Trust me."

"U-um...o-okay," Namine mewed, trying to catch up to Larxene. Her legs were too short to walk alongside Larxene's quickened pace, so she resorted to trotting by her side.

They walked in silence for a while, occasionally passing by a cat that they had already met. Most of the older ones gave the duo a nod of acknowledgement or a tail flick in their direction, but a few of the younger ones (like Demyx) refused to look at them.

"Alright, I think the last cat you need to meet is Lexaeus," Larxene muttered mostly to herself. When she spoke again, her voice was louder and Namine could clearly tell that it was directed towards her. "He may be big, but he's not scary."

"B-big?" Namine asked, trying to keep her fear concealed. Her fur was starting to stand on end, but there was nothing she could do about it. "Bigger than X-Xaldin?"

"Bigger, but not built like a monster," she meowed, as if it would help calm the kitten down. It didn't, instead it only made her more nervous. Big kitties were powerful, and powerful kitties were mean and scary. Larxene was powerful, but she wasn't that scary, and she was nice.

She tried to convince herself that Larxene wouldn't deliberately lead her to a big scary kitty, but it didn't help much. Still, she decided to trust the older cat and kept following her, even when a rusty-brown monster of a cat came into view.

He was big. Bigger than every other cat in the house, but not exactly as scary as Xaldin. His fur was short and curly, but what surprised her the most was that his tail, instead of being long like the other cats, was only a little stub.

"H-he's b-b-big..." Namine stammered, pressing herself back against Larxene's fur. The warmth radiating from the older cat helped calm her down, but only slightly.

"Don't worry, Namine. He's not scary. I'll show you." She left her side, leaving Namine confused and frightened. She was tempted to dash after her, but another glance at the big scary cat froze her in place.

Larxene and the big scary cat started talking to each other, but Namine couldn't make anything out from where she was. After a few moments, Larxene walked back to the kitten. She crouched down until Namine found herself looking at Larxene's pleading acid green eyes. "Just trust me, alright?" Her meow was genuinely sweet and caring, lulling the kitten into a sense of security. "Lexaeus is not going to hurt you, and I'll be there to protect you."

The fear still raced down the kitten's spine, but Larxene's request was so genuine that she found herself agreeing. "O-okay...i-if you say so...I t-trust you."

Larxene slowly led the kitten over to Lexaeus, making sure to stay at least a half-step in front of her for protection. Even though he wasn't that far away, the trek over to him was painfully long, and even though they walked a straight path, it felt more like they were trying to get through a labyrinth.

When she finally reached him, he didn't react. A pair of blue-gray eyes stared down at her passively, and she had to use every ounce of willpower in her tiny body to meet his gaze.

"Your name is Namine, I believe?" He meowed, the words ending up being stuck halfway between a sentence and a question. Namine, unsure of what to do, only nodded slightly.

"It's nice to meet you, little kitten. I won't hurt you." He meowing, his tone completely calm, as if a statue had come to life just to speak to her.

"U-um...h-hello," she squeaked, barely noticing Larxene's tail gently sliding along her back. "M-my name i-is...N-Namine."

He gave a purr of amusement. "I know, little one."

She wasn't much calmer than before, but the fear in her was slowly ebbing away. At a loss for words, she simply stared at her paws, frequently giving them a small lick so it would seem like she was doing _something _and not just awkwardly standing there.

"I think you've met everyone now, Namine," Larxene began, breaking the unsteady silence and sending a rush of relief through the blonde kitten. "Now, we can do whatever we want." A mischievous tone was in her meow, but Namine decided to ignore it.

"U-um...I am a little b-bit h-hungry..." She mewed quietly, shrinking into herself. Hopefully Larxene wouldn't ignore her and go off to do something else; she didn't even know where the food bowl was.

"Then how about we go eat?" The older cat suggested, looking back at Lexaeus. "You coming?"

Namine didn't realize how quickly Larxene changed until then. When she was with her, she was sweet and gentle; but around other cats she grew cold and harsh. It frightened her some, but as long as Larxene didn't act that way towards her, she was more-or-less okay with it.

Lexaeus nodded, padding over to them. He stood on the other side of Namine, across from Larxene.

As they walked down the hallway, a strange content feeling washed over them. Namine felt...protected. She felt like she was wanted again; like she had a family.

So the family padded to the kitchen together, quickly developing a bond that could never be broken.

* * *

Xion didn't exactly understand why the red cat and the blue cat were shooting death glares and snarls at each other, but she didn't realize that it might have been a better idea to stay away.

Instead, she trotted up to the blue cat and tried to introduce herself. She only got halfway through her name when the cat snarled at her, stunning her into silence. "Look, Axel," he spat, turning his attention to the red cat across the room, "ANOTHER kitten!" He stopped to sniff her, then coiled back in disgust. "And a FERAL, too! First that spineless scrap of fur, then a feral? I don't care if we're littermates – you have absurd taste in friends."

"I don't even know that kitten!" The red cat, Axel, retorted. "And don't be so harsh about Roxas. He's naïve, but good, unlike _you,_ dear brother."

Finally, Xion got the message. She quietly crept away, realizing that it was pointless to try to introduce herself. They were too caught up in arguing with each other to care at the moment.

But the name they brought up earlier...Orxas, was it? No, not Orxas. Roxas. She didn't recognize the name.

A wave of triumphant purpose coursed along her spine. She had a new mission: to find the cat named Roxas.

It didn't take her long to complete her mission. She found a blond kitten, slightly bigger than herself, crouched in the hall. He was much, much fluffier than her but still not as fluffy as Namine. His coat was smoothed down, except for several pieces of fur on his head, which stuck straight up in the air, though he didn't seem to care.

His eyes were closed, but his unsteady breathing told her that he was wide awake. With that knowledge, she approached him. "Hey," she mewed, gently poking him in the side, "are you Roxas?"

The cat opened his eyes and turned to face her, causing her to back up slightly. His eyes were the exact same color as her own...even though she had never seen him before.

"Yeah...who are you?" He asked, watching her with an innocent curiosity.

"I'm Xion!" She mewed happily, glad that she had found another cat who didn't just ignore her. "I just got here today."

"Really?" He asked, standing up and stretching. "So did Namine," he added with a small yawn.

Xion nodded, growing bored with the meaningless small talk. She liked running around and playing a lot more than simply standing around and meowing pointlessly. So, she decided to act on her thought. "Hey, Roxas, do you know where any of the toys are?"

Instantly he perked up. His tail shot up straight in the air, and with a happy mew, he was trotting down the hall. "There's this butterfly on this springy thing over here," he explained, stopping to let Xion catch up to him. "And there's some string around here somewhere, but I don't know what happened to it."

"Don't worry," Xion mewed proudly, trying to suppress the urge to dash off and find the string, "I can find it!"

"Then let's go!" Together, they dashed down the hallway, both glad to have found another new friend.

* * *

This chapter was sweet and a lot of fun to write. Like I've said before, Xion's personality had to be changed a lot...but then again, nobody is entirely IC. For Arceus's sake, they're cats. ^^;

Also, just got Pokemon Black. It's so much fun, and I love love love the new designs for...everything.

Hope you liked this chapter. Until next Tuesday~


	9. Bring Your Pet To Work Day

Dedicated to all of my wonderful friends that I love very much. :)

* * *

Every year, there was always one day Ansem dreaded: Bring Your Pet To Work Day. Not because of the quirky animals his co-workers always had; no, he quite enjoyed seeing Dilan's crocodile intimidate the interns or Even's robots make them coffee.

He absolutely _loathed_ having to decide which cat to bring. Before, it wasn't that hard, but instead of 12 cats to have to pick from, he now had 15 faithful companions to decide between.

So, with a long, exasperated sigh, he set out on his new task of narrowing down which cat to bring. Ansem, being a tactful man of business, decided to narrow them down the best way he knew how – with a list and a little bit of logic.

Almost immediately he crossed off his original cats, plus Zexion. The first five had all been birthday presents from his co-workers...five years ago. Zexion had been given to him on his last birthday by Ienzo, the quiet little boy who was just as brilliant as any of them, regardless of his young age.

Unfortunately, that only narrowed his choice down to 9. He looked over the list again, thinking of each cat whose name he hadn't crossed off yet. Two years ago, he brought Saix, so he crossed him off. Axel, on the other hand, he had never brought, but knowing his feisty personality, he might get too close to Aeleus's bear. Reluctantly he crossed off that name as well.

Last year he brought Luxord, so his name was quickly crossed off. Marluxia and Larxene both hated the car (he couldn't fathom why; the other cats never minded), but they would be fine if they had each other. The problem was, if they were together, they would terrorize any other animal that wasn't too intimidating. They'd probably end up breaking Even's robotic something-or-other that Ansem knew he would bring, and he'd rather not be on the receiving end of one of Even's lectures.

With pleasant surprise, Ansem realized that his list had grown much smaller. Now there were only four cats to choose from: Demyx, Namine, Xion, and Roxas. Hesitantly, he crossed off Demyx's name, since he had only been introduced to all three of the kittens a short two days ago.

Now, to figure out which kitten to take with him. He thought long and hard, trying to figure out the pros and cons between each of the kittens, but in the end, he could only come to the conclusion that he knew next to nothing about all three.

A little while later, while Ansem was still trying to figure out which kitten to bring, Kairi came in. The quietly shut the door to his study behind her, then walked over to him, leaning over his shoulder to look at the papers on his desk.

"So its Bring Your Pet To Work Day tomorrow?" She asked, expertly scanning her father's papers. He nodded in response. "Can't pick between the kittens?"

He gave a long, heavy sigh. "Unfortunately, I can't decide." Maybe, just maybe she would be able to help out.

Kairi hummed, deep in thought. After a few seconds, she slowly began, "well, why not bring all three? Namine's too scared to go by herself, Roxas would probably get eaten by a bear or a crocodile," Ansem had to hold back a chuckle at that thought; no matter how ridiculous it sounded, it was entirely true. "And Xion would get into something that might hurt her. But if you bring all three, Namine won't be as afraid, Roxas won't wander off and get lost, and Xion won't be able to get into as much trouble," she finished.

Ansem considered that possibility for several moments. "Kairi..." he said, noticing her wince at his serious tone, "that...is a wonderful idea. Thank you." He added a smile at the end for good measure.

"You're welcome!" She replied happily. "So, want me to get the kennel ready for tomorrow?" She asked, grabbing his pen and circling the names of the three kittens. He nodded, which sent her out of his study to go find the kennel.

* * *

Thanks to Kairi's efforts the day before, getting the kittens was much simpler than he had expected. Even though he had already taken her to school, he could find them by himself. The kittens weren't exactly creative when it came to their favorite spots.

As expected, he had found timid little Namine cuddled by Larxene, and Roxas was lazily grooming himself near a sleeping Axel. Xion, however, was a bit easier to find; when he did find her, the sleek black kitten was sitting at the foot of the stairs, staring up at them. The steps, though short enough for the older cats to climb up, towered over her. With a small hum of amusement, he snatched her up and took her to the kennel to join the other kittens.

Within a few minutes, Ansem was pulling out of the driveway, the kennel safely sitting on the passenger seat. Hopefully the kittens wouldn't knock over the kennel while he was driving. _Hopefully_.

* * *

"Hey, where do you think we're going?" Xion asked, her eyes full of excitement at the prospect of going to a new place. She looked expectantly at the other two kittens, waiting patiently for an answer. Namine was looking around utterly confused, while Roxas had shoved himself in the back corner. The whirr of the shiny animal they were in was loud, but not loud enough to drown out their meows.

"What are we _in_?" He asked back, still trying to see if he could force himself even further in the corner than he already was. "What is this thing?" He mewed fearfully.

While none of the kittens had known each other for long, she knew that Namine was the more timid of the three, yet Roxas was the one in the corner; Namine didn't look afraid or nervous at all.

"I-I dunno what its called," the blonde kitten quietly began, "b-but its not gonna h-hurt us...I-I-I've been in one before." She still sounded nervous and scared, but Xion now knew that she simply always sounded that way. Whether or not she was actually nervous and terrified depended on her body language.

"See?" Xion mewed, hoping to cheer Roxas up and get him out of the corner. "When they got me, I went in one of these. Sure, they're loud, but they're not scary. When we're in one, they can't hurt us."

It didn't convince him. "I-I'm good back here..." he muttered, crouching down in an attempt to get comfortable. The warm, comfy blanket didn't even reach him! He was missing out on it.

They sat in silence for the rest of the ride. Both Namine and Xion soon found themselves drifting off, and before long, Namine was out like a light. Xion tried her best to stay awake, but before long sleep overtook her as well. The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep was Roxas slowly and carefully making his way out of the corner.

Xion seemingly woke up a few moments later by a sudden jostle. Within a second, she was on her feet, wildly glancing around, trying her best to push down the rapidly rising fear in her belly. Namine jumped upright and frantically looked around, automatically searching for a place to bolt to. Roxas was doing the same thing in vain, except he added frightened meows to the chaos.

They started panicking even more at the sudden realization that the box they were in was suspended in mid-air, but calmed down when they heard Ansem's soothing voice. "Kittens, its okay," he chuckled. "Just a little while longer."

They decided to trust Ansem, so they settled down as he took them inside of a strange building. Beeps, whirrs, and human voices surrounded them at all sides, but Ansem's occasional words of comfort kept them calm. Surprisingly, Namine was rather calm during the entire ideal.

Which made Xion wonder why. She wasn't fond of breathing around the bush, so she bluntly asked the blonde kitten, "Namine, why are you so calm?"

"Yeah," Roxas joined in, "I'm kinda nervous, but you look normal."

The moment Namine realized that the other two kittens were giving her their full attention, she backed up against the wall, shrinking into herself the best she could. "U-um...b-because..." she began, hew mew shaking with her nervousness, "A-Ansem is here...and h-he's good. S-safe. H-he'll protect us..." Xion barely managed to hear Namine quietly add, "like Larxene," at the end.

Namine had Larxene to help and take care of her, just like Roxas had Axel. They were their protectors, their friends. As for Xion, she hadn't developed a close bond with another cat like they had. But she was strong, she could take care of herself; that's what she had been doing before Ansem and the girl took her in, after all.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she sneezed suddenly, the force of it sending her off-balance and tumbling to the ground in a mass of flailing limbs. Nearby she heard Roxas and Namine purr with laughter, but for the moment she decided to try to untangle herself and stand back up.

By the time she had managed to stand up again, the kittens realized that they were no longer suspended in mid-air. They were on a plain white table, with only a few shiny sticks and weird human-things decorating the table.

"We're here." Ansem announced, his tone flat and even as he opened the door, allowing them to come out to freedom.

The second the door was opened, Xion hopped up and ran out of whatever-Ansem-had-put-them-in. The other two remained in the cage, frozen in fear by what could possibly be in their strange new surroundings. "Come on!" She mewed, impatiently waving her tail around. "There's nothing scary out here!" She quickly glanced around to make sure that her statement was true; thankfully, it was.

"A-are you s-sure?" Namine mewed hesitantly, making sure to keep quiet in case anything that could hurt them was nearby. Xion nodded again, waving her tail in an attempt to coax her out.

"W-what are y-you gonna do, R-Roxas?" Namine asked, looking at the other blond kitten. His eyes widened, and his answer consisted of confused stammers that nobody could make out.

"Come on, you two!" Xion meowed, walking back into whatever-Ansem-had-put-them-in and tapping them both with her paws. "At least come out!"

Roxas meowed, failing to keep the fear in his voice hidden. "B-but what if there's something out there?"

The black kitten groaned. "I just told you, there's nothing out there! Besides, Ansem is right there, waiting for us to come out!"

As if on cue, Ansem's soothing, deep voice echoed through the room. "Come out, little ones. It's safe."

"See?" Xion boasted, proudly sticking her chest out. "Ansem says that it's safe, so it has to be safe!"

I guess..." Roxas admitted, staring at the floor. He got up so slowly it was almost painful for Xion to watch, and watching him finally walk out of whatever-Ansem-had-put-them-in was just as painful, if not more. He sat down in front of the opening, warily looking around. After he scanned the entire room, he happily announced, "its safe! Xion was right."

"Don't worry, Namine! Even if there is a big scary monster, -and there's not- I'll be there to protect you!" Xion mewed, trying to calm down the frightened blonde kitten. "I may not be Larxene, but I can still protect you."

"I-I know..." She mewed quietly, her paws clumsily crossed in front of her. Slowly, but thankfully faster than Roxas, she got up. Together they walked out and sat down next to Roxas, who was watching Ansem.

Within a few moments of Namine coming out of whatever-Ansem-had-put-them-in, Ansem turned around to face them with a growing smile. "Now, be good." He ordered. "I'm going to see what pets the others brought." With that, he left the room, shutting the door with a loud thud.

"What do we do now?" Roxas asked, looking around the room, causing Xion's ear to twitch. A mischievous purr erupted in her chest, and her tail happily swayed from side to side.

_Now_ they could have fun. Being left alone in a big, new room with tons of places to explore? Xion could have called it heaven. "Why, it's simple, my dear Roxas," she purred, amused at her fake noble, snobbish tone, but the facade quickly ended. "We explore!" The fake tone was completely dropped, leaving only Xion's pure excitement showing. The other kittens mrrowed in laughter at the ridiculous behavior of their friend.

Xion quickly hopped off the table, landing not-so-gracefully on a nearby chair. Nothing could deter her now. It was time to have fun.

* * *

Ansem found several of his co-workers chatting in one of the main parts of the building. Surprisingly, they were all the co-workers he actually knew – many people worked here, but he only knew a small handful. The six co-workers who had given him six of his cats -along with Xehanort's son, Xehanort II, or as Braig called him, Xeh- were pleasantly exchanging small-talk.

"Ah, Ansem! So nice of you to finally join us," Xehanort joked, motioning him over with a veiny hand. "Come, join us!"

As he joined the small group, he noticed the big German Shepard Xeh had brought with him. The dog sniffed Ansem's leg, then looked up at him, panting happily. Though he was much fonder of cats, Ansem still gladly obliged to the silent request and scratched behind's its ears, ignoring the heavy thumps of its tail against his leg.

"Hey, Ansem!" Braig called, motioning him closer. "Have I showed you my new pet yet?" He asked, his mouth slowly curling into a devious smile.

Slightly wary, Ansem shook his head. With a full-blown grin, Braig held up the gun he had at his side.

"Braig...that's a gun." Ansem said flatly, giving the man a blank stare.

Braig's grin contorted into a look of offense that seemed oddly genuine. "She's not just a gun!" He defended, rolling his eyes. "Her name is Vera, and she's very sensitive about being called a gun."

Ansem, knowing better than to try to argue with the odd man, simply sighed and shook his head. "Alright, Braig. Whatever you want to believe."

"Eh, whatever. I have things I gotta go do. See ya later." With a curt wave, Braig left the small group. They all ignored it, since they all knew he'd reappear in a few minutes.

"Oh, that reminds me," Xeh said, turning towards Ansem. "I have some papers I need to drop off at your desk. Would it be okay if I dropped them off now?" He asked, failing to keep his nervousness hidden beneath a curtain of professionalism.

With a small laugh, Ansem nodded, sending the man and his dog off. After he left, Ansem turned to the remaining people. "So, what pets did you bring this year?"

As expected, Even brought yet another robot (this time, he boasted, it was a unicorn), Dilan brought his trusty intern-scaring crocodile, and Aeleus had his bear. Each of them had their pets in their office, and had no intention of letting them out at the moment. Last time they did, poor Dilan ended up devoting half of his month's pay to paying for the damage their pets had caused.

"I'll just show you the little terror," Xehanort grumbled, stalking off to -presumably- get his pet and show Ansem.

"I brought my new kitten," Ienzo said quietly, moving aside to let Ansem see the kitten in question. A small kitten trotted up to the edge of the table, rose-colored eyes regarding him with curiosity. Her fur was short, with patches of caramel over a solid chocolate coat. She mewed, patiently waiting for him to pet her.

With a breath of amusement, Ansem gladly obliged. He scratched the kitten's head, quietly listening to her loud purr. After a few moments, he turned to Ienzo and asked, "what do you call her?"

Ienzo looked at the kitten, pure love and adoration shining in his eyes. "Her name is Saya. I just got her."

"Well, she's adorable," Ansem replied, just as Xehanort reappeared, holding an insane, hissing kennel in tow.

"This is my pet," Xehanort grumbled, gesturing to the cage. Curious, Ansem leaned down, only to have a small black paw reach out of the cage in an attempt to snag him. He quickly pulled back, and with a small, slightly nervous laugh, backed away.

"Exactly. He doesn't seem to want to cooperate with me, and no matter what I do, he keeps being a hissing ball that pis-"

"-he's just a kitten. He'll probably grow out of it," Ansem said, quickly cutting him off. Boss or not, he wasn't comfortable with people cursing around young Ienzo, who watched them with a look of slight boredom.

The kitten inside of the kennel kept hissing, but Ansem's years of living with cats told him that the hisses weren't from anger; rather, it was from something else entirely. Almost as if the kitten simply enjoyed hissing and being a little terror.

"Well, I'm going to go put this cat back in my office," Xehanort said, turning and walking away. Ansem glanced back at his co-workers, quickly deciding that he might as well pay a visit to their animals.

"Dilan, Aeleus, Even, would you show me your pets?" He asked politely, chuckling at Even's instantly brightening face.

"Gladly!" Even replied, dragging his adult co-workers off. Ienzo nervously backed away, murmuring something about his kitten. Ansem was too far away to make out the boy's words.

* * *

The kittens were (more-or-less) happily exploring the strange room Ansem left them in when the door opened. A strange, hesitant silver-haired man came in, quickly shutting the door behind him. A large, alien...thing was at his side, ears perked up and eyes attentively darting around the room.

Roxas was the first one to notice the thing. At the sight of the strange man and the thing, panic rushed through him, fluffing him up to an almost-impossible size. He glanced around the area, and quickly found Namine next to a cabinet, her front paws resting on the open drawer as a black tail poked out from inside. He gave them a warning mew, laced with every bit of fear and panic he felt. Namine jumped at the sudden sound, then hopped headfirst into the cabinet while Xion warily poked her head out.

"Roxas, what's the ma-" Xion cut herself off as she saw the man and the thing, her eyes doubling in size. "Dog..." she whispered, slowly crawling out of the cabinet as if she was possessed. He could only watch in horror as she stumbled over to the hulking beast, some invisible force dragging her along. When it gave a sudden bark, she yowled in pure terror, dashing past him and throwing herself to the back of the cabinet so hard he heard the thud.

Now completely terrified, he hopped in the cabinet, cuddling next to the females for comfort. While he knew Namine would be shaking from fright, he didn't expect Xion to be as well.

They heard the animal...no, the dog's heavy breathing as it echoed through the silent room. It whined, but was quickly silenced by the strange man's voice. "No, Bastion. You can't look around Ansem's office. Now come on." With one last whine, the man and the dog (at least, that was what Xion called it) left the room, leaving them alone again.

They stayed in that cabinet for what felt like forever, each too terrified to move in case the dog was still there. It took a while, but eventually Roxas managed to work up the courage to break the tense air. "Xion, why were you so scared?"

Xion's snap back into her usual attitude was almost visible, and if he looked closely, he could see the fear overshadow her eyes one last time before he banished it. "What d'ya mean? I wasn't scared," she mewed, slightly offended. "It was just a dog."

"But you...and it...you were!"

She purred in amusement. "You're silly." She turned her attention away from the extremely confused kitten and over to Namine, who was still huddled in the corner. As she trotted over to coerce the blonde kitten out of the cabinet, Roxas wondered what just happened with Xion.

He soon came to the conclusion that all of the cats he knew were weird. Especially his friends.

* * *

"And this," Even announced happily, gesturing to the robotic unicorn that stood in front of Ansem, "is my newest creation, Amalthea!" With a robotic whirr, the unicorn swiveled its head to look at Ansem, its laser red eyes boring right into him. He took a step back, slightly unnerved at the beast.

"What a...lovely creation, Even. Very...anatomically correct." Unfortunately for Ansem, the robot's exterior wasn't entirely finished, and he couldn't help but gawk the the various tubes and circuits inside of the unicorn, mimicking the internal organs of a horse.

"It's vastly superior to the robotic hedgehog I brought in last year, don't you agree?" Even boasted, standing up to his full height.

Ansem chuckled nervously. "Quite..." He glanced back at his co-workers, who looked just as ready to get out of the room as he was. Last year, Even's hedgehog malfunctioned, and the small robot was dangerous enough. There was no telling what kind of damage the unicorn's horn could do to them.

"Now, Even," he said quickly, just in time to prevent Even from starting one of his excited rambles about science and mechanics, "I'm terribly sorry, but I have to go check in on my pets. I'll see you in a little while." He exited the room with Aeleus and Dilan at his heels.

"Now," Ansem said, turning back towards the two men, "if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to see your pets. Any volunteers?"

They looked at each other, and tentatively Dilan raised his hand. "You haven't seem Leonard in a while, have you?" Ansem shook his head. "Then let's go," he said, turning and walking off.

"I should go check on Hilda, then," Aeleus commented, walking the other way. Ansem could just visit him once he was done with Dilan. He jogged after the black-haired man, quickly catching up to his long stride.

Inside Dilan's -rather spacious- office, Ansem was surprised to see it dwarfed by a large, clear tank in the middle of the room. A large, placid crocodile floated on top of the water, fully asleep. It lazily opened one eye, then shut it again, drifting back off to sleep.

"Leonard's...gotten bigger, hasn't he?"

"He has. Before long, I'll have to make my pool bigger," he joked, flashing a grin at Ansem. "Then again, I'm talking to the man who bought a bigger house because he didn't have enough room for his cats."

"It's a valid excuse," Ansem shot back with a joking chuckle. "Now, I'm going to go before he wakes up. Wouldn't want to upset him," Ansem said, trying his best to ignore the pit of worry in his stomach. The kittens were probably wreaking havoc on his office, and he wanted to make sure that they and his office were safe.

"Alright, Ansem," Dilan said, the slightest bit of disappointment in his voice, though it didn't override the worry pricking his mind. He left quickly, practically jogging through the building in an attempt to get to his office faster.

He was only interrupted when he saw a large grizzly bear lumber out in front of him. Considering that a giant grizzly bear lumbered out of nowhere, Ansem reacted rather calmly by backing away as fast as he could. It watched him passively, but started to walk towards him just as Aeleus came into view.

"Hilda," Aeleus commanded, freezing the bear in its spot just a few feet away from Ansem, "come here." Like a dog, the bear obediently padded back to Aeleus. Ansem watched in confusion as Aeleus took complete control of the situation, patiently leading the bear away without a single spoken word. How he could have possibly managed to tame that bear still amazed him, even though he had seen it before. Just...not that close.

Rather than have another mishap like that happen, Ansem decided to simply get back to his office. On the way back, he took no detours, making sure to avoid as many co-workers as possible. He politely declined any invitations to go see others' pets; worries for his own overtook his mind.

He burst into his office to hear a frightened shriek and the sound of...something hitting metal. Worried, he went to the source of the sound: a cabinet with one drawer slightly open. He pulled it open all the way to find his three kittens staring up at him, their blue eyes filled with relief.

They greeted him with mews of joy. Xion ran up to his hand, headbutting it with a clear demand to pet her. With a small chuckle, he did. Her purr spurred the other kittens to the front of the drawer; Roxas walked up normally, while Namine trotted behind him. Each watched watched him in wide-eyed adoration, their purrs uniting into one solid chorus.

"Yes, yes, kittens. It's nice to see you too."

He sat down in his office chair with absolutely no intention to leave his kittens anytime soon. They must have sensed it, because the three of them clumsily scrabbled up the side of his desk to join him. They stayed in a peaceful silence, just glad to have each other.

* * *

Aeleus and his bear are just made of so much awesome it hurts. I also cannot spell Aeleus; it took me forever to get it right.

This chapter was a pain to write, and its also the longest so far. -_-; I hope it was funny enough, and that you all liked it. Hilda and Leonard are the coolest pets ever, and expect to see Xehanort's ball of crazy again.

Maybe you'll get to see Riku and his sandwich too. ;3

Well anywho after writing a chapter co-starring Demyx's sitar as a human, I decided to make up a character sheet for the other weapons of the Org, plus Sora, Riku, and Kairi. I love all of them so far. ^^ My favorite is Kingdom Key AKA Sarah Kingsley. :3 She is loud and obnoxious and energetic and awesome.


	10. My Brother, My Friend

Dedicated to...hmm...I dunno. Everypony who gets this reference. :3_  
_

* * *

_The last thing Ansem and Kairi expected to see when they went to the store were two of her classmates desperately trying to give two kittens away. Curious, Kairi tugged on Ansem's hand, sending him a pleading look that he had no choice but to give into._

"_Hi Lea! Hi Isa!" She greeted, bounding up to the two boys. The two, complete opposites of each other, seemed to be engaged in a peaceful, friendly conversation until Kairi interrupted it._

"_Hey Kairi," Lea greeted, plucking the lone blue kitten from out of the basket at his feet. "Want a kitten? Better yet, want two?" He jerked his head at Isa, who silently grabbed the red kitten out of the basket and held it up._

"_We still need to get rid of them," Isa explained, cuddling the fiery red kitten, "but whenever they're more than two feet away from each other, they throw a fit."_

_Ansem stared at the kittens, wondering why they were so similar to the two boys. The blue cat was the same shade as Isa's hair, and they both held the same cool, calm temper. The red one was the spitting image of Lea (in cat form, of course) with the energetic, fiery spirit to match. "You two are close, aren't you?" Ansem asked, unable to prevent the words from flowing out._

_Strangely, it was Kairi who turned to answer him. "They're best friends, and his mom and his dad married each other last year, so now they're brothers!"_

"_Yeah. It's awesome, and even our cats got together and had kittens!" Lea announced happily. Ansem wondered why they were telling him this; Kairi didn't mention them often, but then again his family had always had the strange ability to let random people tell him about their lives._

"_Yeah, but they married because of money issues," Isa shot back, his tone strange bitter for a 10-year-old, assuming they were the same age as Kairi. They certainly looked like it. "And now we have to move to a smaller house that doesn't allow pets, which is why we're giving them away in the first place." His expression stayed eerily stoic the entire time, almost like a soldier returning from the stresses of war._

"_Daaaad," Kairi pleaded, clasping her hands together and looking up at Ansem with the best puppy-dog expression she could muster, "can we get them? Pleeeeaaaaase? Pretty please with sugar and sprinkles and cherries on top?"_

_He sighed, looking away from her expression. She always got him with that, but they already had five cats – the last thing they needed were two more. "Kairi, I don't think so. We-"_

"_Please?" She whined, ramping up the intensity of her puppy-dog eyes._

_Ansem sighed again, unable to deflect the rays of pure sadness she was sending towards him. At that moment, every single bit of her heart desperately wanted those kittens, and it was visible. "...fine." He said. "We'll get them."_

_The cheer that followed was so loud that the two kittens looked at her in shock. With a delighted squeal, she took the blue kitten from Lea's arms, holding him as if he was a fragile doll. Isa gave Ansem the red kitten, whom he gently cradled in his arms._

_She beamed at the kitten, gently scratching the icy blue belly with a single finger. "You're adorable," she told him, moving up to get behind his ears. "I love you."_

_The gleam that shone in the kitten's eyes when she told him that showed that he did too._

* * *

_As the years went by, Kairi and Saix only grew closer. She would never admit it to herself, but secretly, Saix was her favorite. He was icy and eerily calm, even when he was a kitten, but she loved him all the same. He had a side that was only shown to the ones he cared for; a fiercely loyal, and unusually sweet. The first time he purred, Kairi was genuinely surprised. Unlike his brother, Saix hardly showed affection._

_Saix wasn't too interested in the other cats; after all, most of them were uninteresting. However, the second the icy blue kitten saw a calm, mysterious silver-haired tom, he wanted to talk to him. He stood proud and tall and magnificent, just like Ansem did, yet possessed a strange quality that Ansem didn't, yet Saix couldn't place what exactly it was.  
_

_So Saix slowly padded up to the silver cat, fully aware of the face that he was just a little kitten and the silver-haired cat was an adult. "Hello," he mewed, trying to keep his voice as calm and level as possible._

_The cat turned to look at Saix, golden eyes glowing with amusement. "Hello, little kitten. Your name is Saix, right?"_

"_You know my name?" Saix asked, fully surprised. Why would a cat, clearly one of the leaders, even acknowledge his existence?_

_The silver-haired cat purred in amusement. "Of course I know your name, Saix. I know the names of all of the cats in my family."_

"_F-family?" Saix stuttered in utter disbelief. He and Axel had just gotten there, and since they were just kittens and the other cats had all lived together for a long time, he thought that the older cats didn't like them. The other cats were definitely colder towards him and his brother than they were to each other. He felt like he didn't belong._

"_Yes. Family," the older cat meowed, "the moment Ansem accepted you and your brother into the house, you became part of my family."_

_Little did Xemnas know, but those simple words meant the world to Saix. To think that it was even possible for others to so easily accept newcomers into their home was simply astounding._

_Saix wanted to express the sheer gratitude he felt for the silver cat, but he simply didn't know how._

_What he did know was that he would repay the older cat. Even if it took forever. He wouldn't rest until he could find something equal in value._

_As time went on, Saix grew closer to Xemnas; he wasn't sure why the silver cat took him under his wing, but nonetheless, he remained grateful. While he always had his brother by his side, and, even as the number of cats slowly grew, Kairi never stopped loving him, there was still that fierce sense of gratitude towards Xemnas that never faded._

* * *

_It was just another normal night. The humans were asleep, and several of the cats were lounging around the house. Axel, like usual, was asleep, leaving Saix by himself. Not wanting to be alone, he set off to go look for Xemnas._

_He found the silver-haired cat sitting in front of the glass door, staring up at the beautiful shining orb hanging in the sky. He had seen him staring at it many times before, but he never understood why._

"_Saix, isn't the moon beautiful?" Xemnas asked, entranced by the strange object._

"_It is," Saix agreed, slightly confused._

"_Yes..." he continued. "Just once, I would love to be able to see it up close. To put my paws on it, and see if it really is as majestic as it seems."_

"_But how, if its so high up?"_

"_I don't know, but I'll try. I'm not going to leave this world before setting my paws on that one."_

_At least to Saix, Xemnas's statement didn't make much sense. "But you're going to have to take your paws off of this world if you want to put them on that one," he pointed out, highly confused._

_Xemnas purred in amusement. "Not literally, Saix."_

"_Oh." He glanced up at Xemnas, who had returned his gaze to the moon. If he wanted the moon, then Saix would get it for him. If he gave Xemnas the moon, then he'd finally be able to express his gratitude. It would be a present worthy of the alpha cat._

_No matter how long it would take, Saix would get that moon. If he had to, he'd go up to there himself, and drag the moon itself to Ansem's doorstep. Even if it took years, he would get that mystical orb._

* * *

_Axel was happy for his brother. He really, truly was. Not only did he instantly bond with the girl, he even bonded with the alpha cat and earned the respect of the others. He was practically second in command, and Axel was proud of him._

_But he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit jealous. Even if Saix had tried to reassure him countless times, constantly telling him that Xemnas himself had accepted them into the family, he still felt lonely. All of the other cats, even the new ones, quickly formed new friendships while all he ever had was Saix. He loved his brother, but he just wished that he could find a friend of his own._

_He tried to bond with the other cats. When Demyx arrived, he thought that maybe they could get along, but it never worked out. _

_He never held much of an interest in Luxord or his quirky habits. _

_The original cats never liked him that much, all respected Saix, but when it came to Axel, they thought much lower of him.  
_

_Like Axel and Saix, Larxene and Marluxia were siblings, so Axel hoped that he might be able to befriend one of them. Sadly, it just didn't work. Even though they quickly grew close to other cats, they didn't care for him. At best, Larxene would challenge him to a play-fight, and Marluxia would sit by and make snide comments._

_Even though Zexion was the 12th cat to arrive (he was just a little kitten), because of the fact that he came from Ansem's co-worker, he was accepted as one of the original cats. It made no sense, but nothing about Zexion made sense.  
_

_Eventually, Axel realized something; he felt lonely. Compared to his brother, he was an outcast. Yes, they were all one big family, but he didn't feel it. The girl and Ansem still liked Axel, and they always paid attention to him, but he just wanted a friend. _

_Something must have heard Axel's request. Maybe it was that moon that Saix and Xemnas always watched, or maybe it was just fate._

_One day, one of the girl's human friends; a boy with spiky brown hair, came in holding a small cage. Two blond kittens, exactly identical in appearance, huddled together, mewing in confusion. Kairi skipped over and started talking to him, but Axel was too far away to make it out._

_Before long, she picked one of the kittens out of the cage and held it tightly, happiness practically radiating off of her. The boy left, and the girl happily skipped back to her room, still holding the kitten._

_Curiosity pricking at his stomach, Axel decided to follow the girl, barely managing to slip into her room just before the door closed. He quickly hid underneath a table, sneakily poking his head out to watch her._

_She set the blond kitten on her bed, gently scratching its head with a single finger. The small purr was quiet, but steady. _

"_Hmm..." She said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "You're a boy, and I don't wanna leave you out of the theme we have for the other cats. So, I'll name you...Arsox?" The kitten shook his head in disgust at the same._

"_Hrm...Orxas?" She suggested, getting a pitiful mew in response. "Okay," she said, giggling, "not Orxas."_

"_Axel!" She chirped, looking over to him. He puffed up in shock. She knew he had been there the whole time? "Come on, join us. Maybe you can help me figure out a name for him!"_

_Hesitantly, Axel crept out of his hiding spot, quickly jumping onto the bed and sitting down next to the girl. The kitten watched him with wide eyes. "How did you jump that high?" He asked._

_Axel stared at him dumbly. "I just...do?"_

"_I wish I could do that," the kitten mewed sadly. "Me and my brother aren't good jumpers."_

"_Wait, I got it!" The girl announced, startling both cats. She patted the kitten's head, giving him a huge, happy smile. "Welcome to your new home, Roxas."_

_She got off of the bed and went over to a dresser, quickly pulling it open and rooting through it. After a few seconds of watching her, Axel turned his attention back to the blond kitten, who was looking at him again._

"_So...uhh..." Axel began, slightly unnerved by the kitten's gaze, "I'm Axel." He was about to continue, but the girl came back to them, frowning slightly._

"_'Kay guys, I'll be back in a minute. Can't find a pencil." She left the room, leaving the door wide open. _

_Axel jumped off the bed and waved at the kitten with his tail. "C'mon, I'll show you around. Introduce you to the other cats."_

"_Uh, okay..." Roxas mewed, slowly padding over to the edge of the bed. He craned his neck to look over the edge, but quickly backed up. "I can't do it. It's too high."_

"_You'll be fine. You won't hurt yourself," Axel meowed, trying to convince the kitten to jump._

"_Nuh-uh. I can't," was the response that came from on top of the bed._

_Axel's whiskers twitched in annoyance. It wasn't even that high up! The kitten could do it; he just needed to believe in himself._

_Although it was clear that he didn't. With a small groan, Axel jumped back up onto the bed and padded over to the kitten. "Are you sure you can't do it?" He asked, the finality in his voice coming through perfectly clear. Roxas shook his head, the clumps of fur sticking up on his head swaying with him._

"_Alright..." Taking a deep breath, Axel gently bit the kitten's scruff, lifting him into the air._

"_Wha! What's going on?" Roxas mewed in confusion. Axel hopped off the bed, gently setting the kitten down once they were on the floor. Roxas took several steps back, his bright blue eyes clouded with confusion and anger. "What was that for!" He mewed, offended._

"_You wouldn't jump off the bed, so I did it for you." Axel's whiskers twitched in indifference._

"_...oh. Then...err," Roxas looked down at his paws, trying his best to avoid eye contact, "thanks."_

"_Anytime. Now, how about I show you around the house?" Axel offered, waving his tail in an attempt to get the kitten closer. With a quick nod, Roxas was at his side, and they were off._

_While Roxas was surprised at how friendly Axel was (just like how Saix had been with Xemnas when they first came, though Axel never knew about that meeting), Axel was just happy to finally have a friend. Saix could have Xemnas and Xigbar and everyone else, but Axel had Roxas._

_And in Axel's mind, Roxas was the better choice._

* * *

GUYS I'M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME AND DON'T HATE ME! ;-; FFN wouldn't work last week whenever I tried to update, and Thursday I left to go upstate with my choir. It was so much fun, and so much stuff happened, but there was also a lot of drama. We got back Sunday night/Monday morning. I've been trying every day, and finally it works!

Rather than go on a long ramble about what happened, I shall tell you about my three new plush dolls.

Oswald - went to a mall in San Jose. There was a Disney Store there, so I looked in it. I found the ONLY Oswald plushie in the entire store and bought him. 3 Guess he really IS a lucky rabbit. ^^

Vancouver - we went to Great America (an amusement park) and I won a little purple lemur at one of the games.

Shaymin - They were selling Pokemon plushies at several of the games in Great America. I wanted one so badly, so my friend won one for me. :3 I swear I must have been telling him that I loved him for half of Sunday.

Yeah yeah I know its just an entire flashback chapter, but hey, it gives backstories to a few characters, right? And backstory is always good. _;

For me at least, its kind to sad to think of Saix as a kitten. I mean, he's so happy just to be accepted into a family, and yet by the time Roxas comes around, he's...well, cold. He's cold and mean and harsh. I mean, he gets into fights with his own brother.

The last bit with Roxas happens about a week and a half to two weeks before the first chapter, just so you know. :3

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter; till next Tuesday!


	11. A Fluffy Black Demon

Dedicated to my reviewers. 8D

* * *

It was a simple sandwich, but a wonderful sandwich, nonetheless. One piece of bread, generously covered in peanut butter, joined in happy matrimony with a nice heap of strawberry jelly. Once the sandwich was complete, Riku set it down on the table. He slid into a chair and grabbed the sandwich, inches away from taking a bite as the doorbell rang.

He waited for a second, and upon seeing that neither of his parents were going to get the door, Riku reluctantly got up and answered it himself. His grandfather, Xehanort ('Grampynort' when Riku wasn't feeling like calling him his full name), stood outside, holding a kennel that was violently rocking back and forth. Hisses and growls came from it, making Riku take several steps back.

"May I come in?" His grandfather rasped. "And don't tell me my no-good son left you at home alone again."

Riku sighed. "Come in. And no, gramps. Both Mom and Dad are here, and they're both cleaning at the moment." Whenever he saw his grandfather, one of the first questions out of his mouth would be about his parents and what they were doing. The answer was always the same; no, they hadn't abandoned him, and yes, they were home.

They walked over to the kitchen table, and Riku quickly grabbed his sandwich before Grampynort set the kennel down on the table and set it on the counter. Whatever was inside the kennel -Riku wasn't even sure if it was a cat; his family had some weird tastes in animals- only got angrier, and starting hissing and spitting even louder.

"...what's in there?" Riku asked, gently poking the kennel, enraging the beast inside. A black, scruffy paw jabbed out of the side of the side, blindly trying to swat at his hand, even though he had already pulled away.

"A demon."

Riku snorted in amusement. "No, seriously, what's in there?"

Grampynort glared at the paw, which was flailing uselessly outside of the cage. Rku raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. "A cat," the old man answered, still glaring at the offending paw. "A cat that goes out of its way to be a complete nuisance and has wrecked half of my house."

Riku grinned, quickly deciding to rile up the old man. "You know," he said, leaning back in his chair, casually examining his hand, "all kittens are pretty rowdy. Maybe you're just too old to keep up with it, Gramps." He glanced over at the old man, who was bristling with anger and indignation. Riku leaned back even further, satisfied with his results.

"You little-!" Grampynort cut himself off, taking a long, deep inhale before fixing Riku with sinister-looking gold eyes. "If you think he's not that bad, try living with him for a week. You'll be begging me to take the little demon back before the end of the second day."

Riku smirked darkly, picking the raging kennel up. "It's a bet." Just as Riku was about to open the kennel door, his dad walked out of the hallway, stopping at the sight of his own father.

At the sight of his son, Grampynort turned towards him, quickly getting up from the chair -for an old man- and walking over to him. "Eraqus! What have you been doing all this time?" Riku watched in mild exasperation; the old man had completely forgotten about him and the cat in the span of about two seconds.

As they walked away, Riku sank into the chair, snatching his sandwich from the counter and setting it back in front of him. The kennel had been put back on the table, and without a second thought Riku opened it, unleashing an unholy black terror upon his house.

...Or so he thought. Instead, the kennel instantly grew quiet, and a scruffy, wild black kitten trotted out, golden eyes calmly surveying its new environment. It stared at Riku, then looked down at his sandwich.

If cats could sport devilish grins, Riku would have sworn that the kitten was wearing one. With a fiendish glint in its eyes, it sat down and watched him as he brought the sandwich to his mouth.

He blinked, leaving his eyes closed for no longer than half a second, yet when he opened his eyes, the kitten was gone. With a small shrug, Riku assumed that the kitten had jumped off the table and went off to explore. Closing his eyes (so he could fully focus on his lovely sandwich), Riku took a bite of the sandwich.

Rather, he was about to take a bite out of the sandwich when he heard a hiss. It wasn't evil or full of hatred, but more of a playful mischief, full of a fiendish glee. He opened his eyes, only to see a furry black face inches away from his own, gold eyes staring at him with excitement, waiting to see what he would do next. The cat had somehow gotten onto his sandwich, and was now standing on it.

Strangely, his sandwich didn't feel any heavier. "How...?" Riku asked, before shaking his head, picking up the cat, and setting it on the floor. He didn't know it was possible for cats to be that crafty, but any cat that lived with his grandfather was guaranteed to be odd in one way or another.

The kitten hissed with annoyance, but Riku blocked it out, instead focusing on examining his sandwich. Yes, the cat had been on it, but there was no trace of hair or anything on his sandwich, plus it had taken him so long to perfect it...

Giving up, he tried to take another bite, only to be interrupted by another hiss. He opened his eyes and looked around, but the little problem was nowhere to be seen.

He heard another delighted hiss, and almost dropped his sandwich when he found out where it came from. Somehow, beyond all possible logic and reasoning, the kitten had gotten _inside_ his sandwich, and was staring at him with shining, gleeful eyes.

"HOW!" Riku shouted, pulling the kitten out of his sandwich, earning him an annoyed hiss and a glare from a kitten covered in peanut butter and jelly. He set the kitten down on the table, grieved for his lost sandwich, and folded his arms, shrinking down in his chair and muttering softly to himself.

"Stupid cat..." he muttered, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at the cat's offended face. Unfortunately for Riku, he heard another hiss, sounding just as happy as it did before he pulled the cat out of the sandwich. With a loud groan, he opened his eyes to see the black kitten's face inches away from his own.

He yelled in shock, grabbing onto the table for support. The kitten hung in front of his face, his back claws firmly rooted in his hair. Its limbs were outstretched, in an almost mocking gesture, and its face lit up with pure joy at Riku's reaction. With another groan, he untangled the kitten's legs and pulled it out of his hair.

"Ugh...not only did you ruin my hair, you ruined my sandwich and now I have to wash you. You are _definitely_ Gramp's cat." The kitten seemed delighted at his words, and settled for hanging mostly-limp in his hands.

This was going to be a _long_ week.

* * *

After Vanitas was all cleaned up, he realized that the old man had left him here. At first, he was angry, but he quickly realized that the boy – his name, according to the old man, was Riku- lived here. And messing with Riku was fun. His reactions were hilarious, and the madder Riku got, the funnier it was.

But Riku had locked himself up in his room, and his parents weren't much fun, so Vanitas decided to explore the house, hoping that any other animals that lived here would be fun to bother.

The first animal he found was a large brown cat, sleeping on a chair. A huge paw hung from the edge, and the cat snored loudly. With a purr of amusement, Vanitas walked up to the cat, jumped up on the chair, and right onto his back. The cat grunted, but didn't wake up. With a growl, Vanitas jumped on him again, but the cat stayed asleep.

He tried a few more times, but he only received similar results. Eventually he gave up and left, deciding that he shouldn't waste any more of his time on the sleeping cat. How could anything sleep that soundly? Or snore that loudly, for the matter.

He soon found a light blue cat sunning herself in the window. Feeling a devious purr build up in his throat, he crept up towards her, finally expecting to have some fun. When he pounced into the window, the cat had somehow anticipated the attack and moved to the side, sending him face-first into the window.

She turned to look at him, watching him as he rubbed his muzzle with a confused expression. "Who are you?" She asked. "And why did you just try to attack me?"

Rather than waste time introducing himself and explaining his motives for attacking like most idiotic cats would do, he simply crouched and tried to pounce on her again, only to have her sidestep his attack again.

"I said, _who are you_?" She growled, starting to grow impatient with the little cat. "Answer me this time," she meowed, adding a hasty, "please," as an afterthought.

With a small mew of frustration, Vanitas gave up trying to attack the older cat. She'd probably follow him around until he introduced himself, so he decided to do it then and there and save time. "I'm Vanitas, the new cat, and I did it because I thought it would be funny," he explained quickly, watching her with a bored expression. "Now how many animals live here? Because I just tried jumping on this brown idiot but he stayed asleep."

He expected to at least get a rise out of her by insulting the other cat, but she remained strangely calm, as if she heard that about him a lot. "Oh, that's Terra. Three cats live here, and you've already met two of us. Ven should be around here somewhere," she meowed dismissively. "He'll be happy to see that we got another cat."

Surprised at her willingness to supply him with all of the information he needed to wreak havoc, he nodded. "Uhh...thanks," he mewed, backing up. She didn't seem to care, so he turned around and left to go look for the last cat.

Before long Vanitas found who he assumed to be the last cat; a small, fluffy blond kitten grooming himself in front of a door. With a devious flick of his tail, Vanitas walked up to the cat, holding his tail high and pointing his nose into the air.

Ven watched him, curious blue eyes lighting up with joy. "Are you new?" He asked excitedly, happily bouncing up. "My name is Ven. What's you-"

He was cut off when Vanitas pounced on him, knocking the wind out of his tiny chest. Vanitas looked down at him, pride coming off of the black kitten in waves at the successful attack.

Unfortunately, instead of fighting back like Vanitas had hoped him to, Ven started mewing in confusion. "What are you doing? Get off!" He tried to struggle, but Vanitas was heavy, so he quickly gave up.

Vanitas quickly found out that Ven was boring to try to fight, so he gave up and sat down. "Man, you're just as boring as the other two," he mewed, annoyance invading his voice. "First the brown idiot and then the crazily-calm blue cat, and now a wimp. Just. Wonderful."

With delighted surprise, Vanitas noticed Ven's fur rise on end. He stood up, growling and bristling with rage. "You don't talk about my friends like that!" With a yowl thirsty for revenge, Ven launched himself at Vanitas, catching the black cat off guard and sending him to the floor.

With a delighted hiss, Vanitas pushed the blond kitten off of himself and attacked, kicking at the yellow stomach with his back legs. At least he had found another way to pass the time and have fun when he couldn't bother Riku.

Plus, the kitten was easy to get to. The love Ven felt for his friends would be his downfall!

….at that point, Vanitas felt like a cheesy villain, so he decided to stop thinking and just attack the other kitten. It was useless to try to think up cliched lines while he was fighting.

* * *

I hate Vanitas the human. I really, honestly do. But Vanitas the cat? So much fun to write. He's hilarious. xD

As my sister says, he's a troll-cat. Also he defies all laws of the universe for the lolz.

Eh, not too much to say. Tell me what you thought about this chapter, and I'll see you all next Tuesday.


	12. A Quest to Find the Truth

Dedicated to everyone who's ever liked this story. ^^

* * *

While Luxord knew and accepted the fact that the only thing that could stop Demyx from being the laziest cat on the face of the planet was the chance to jump in the pool, he didn't realize that there was one other thing that Demyx was passionate about.

When he went up to Demyx and asked about how he became one of Ansem's cats, the smaller cat's face instantly lit up, every single messy strand of sand-colored piece of fur on his body standing up with excitement.

"Luxord, it all started a long time ago, when I was just a little kitten..." Demyx began, stars shining in his ocean-blue eyes.

"You see, my mom was a mer-cat. When I was born, I started drowning and she realized that I couldn't live underwater so she swam up to the surface, wrapped me up in a bundle of seaweed, and sent me off. That was when a giant food-bowl descended from the sky and scooped me up to go live with angels. They found out that I can't breathe in space so they strapped me to a meteor and sent me crashing down to Earth."

Luxord sat in stunned silence, not believing a single word of the story. However, Demyx didn't notice, and happily continued, falling deeper and deeper into the story as it continued.

"When the meteor I was on hit the planet, it crashed and caused a huge boom and wiped out all of those big monster things. But the rope the angels used was fire-proof, so I sat there on that meteor for a long, long time. Eventually the rain gave me super-strength so I busted free of the ropes and left to travel the world. I went all over, meeting people and cats from all parts of the world, and I was famous wherever I went. I was even the poster kitten of Meow Mix for a while!"

Luxord opened his mouth to point out every single issue wrong with that story, but at that point Demyx was too absorbed in the story to even remember that Luxord was there.

"Eventually I decided that I should settle down and stop being so famous and awesome, so I gave up all of my powers to this weird kitty with a scar who looked a lot like Xigbar, but then the world exploded and imploded at the same time. When it finished, I was on an ocean and the girl and Ansem were there too, so they saw me and took me home."

After a long, unmoving silence, Luxord shook his head. "You have a talent for making up stories, Demyx. Now, would you mind telling me how you really came here?" His story was certainly interesting, but he wanted the truth, not whatever odd fantasy that had fallen out of that cat's head.

Demyx puffed up, taken aback by Luxord's comment. "Hey! It _is _the truth! Just go ask Xigbar, he'll back me up!" Luxord snorted, knowing that while Xigbar wasn't exactly the most normal cat in the house, at least he would tell him the actual story, and not involve mer-cats and meteors.

"I will," Luxord meowed, walking off, ignoring Demyx's protesting meows until they were nothing more than a buzz in the background. Demyx hadn't expected him to actually go find Xigbar, but Luxord was completely serious about learning the truth.

He found Xigbar in an odd place, even for the usually eccentric cat: up the stairs, down the hall, into the bathroom, and inside of the cabinet above the sink. The second-floor bathroom was one of Xigbar's favorite places to stay in, (he once explained to Luxord why he liked the bathroom, but the reason was so long and complicated he didn't fully understand it) so he checked there first. When he couldn't find the cat underneath the sink, he jumped up onto the counter, and with a little nudging, opened the cabinet and saw Xigbar sitting in it, calmly watching him.

"Yo, Lux." Xigbar greeted, passively flicking his tail at the blond cat. "Something up?"

Luxord nodded, his tail twitching in amusement. Xigbar usually got to the point quickly; a quality he liked about the other cat. "It's about Demyx," he meowed, deciding to get straight to the point.

"What about him?" Xigbar asked, the single gold eye watching the other cat as he padded back and forth along the top of the counter. "Did he do something stupid again? He does that a lot."

Luxord purred in amusement. It was certainly true, and Xigbar, being one of Demyx's closest friends, -the other being Zexion, oddly enough- should know. "Sort of. I asked him about how he came into our family, and he gave me some long, nonsensical story."

Xigbar barked; that loud, harsh sound tearing itself out of his throat, trying its best to imitate a human's laughter. While it was quite frightening to hear and made Luxord jump at first, it conveyed the needed emotion well enough. "Yeah, he just wants to be like me. Thing is, all my stories are true."

Luxord nodded. It was better to humor the cat then try to argue with him. "Sure it is. Now, would you mind telling Demyx's real story?"

"Eh, sure." Xigbar hopped down from the cabinet, landing next to the blond cat. He sat down, and upon seeing that Luxord wasn't sitting down as well, urged him to. "It's not that long, but you might as well."

Once both cats were comfortable, Xigbar began the real story.

"Ansem and Kairi," Kairi was the human girl's name, but no matter how many times he was told, Luxord couldn't remember it, "went to the beach once, and when they were on the pier, they heard mewing. Them being...well, cat-lovers, decided to investigate, and found a little kitten underneath the pier. The tide was coming in, so Kairi begged Ansem to let them take the stray home. I think she said something about him being 'seagull food' but whatever she said worked and they decided to keep him. Really, Ansem said yes because high tide was coming in and he was afraid that the kitten would get washed out to sea.

So they decided to give the kitten a name. Kairi wanted to give it to him, but since they didn't know the name of his original owner, she didn't know what his name should be. When Ansem suggested Tide, she somehow heard Myde so he became the Demyx we all know and love."

Luxord couldn't help but purr in amusement. "So the poor kitten was named Demyx because the girl heard Ansem wrong," he meowed, finding it hard to believe that such a simple mistake could actually happen. Xigbar nodded, and imitated a human's laughter again, catching Luxord off-guard and making him jump again.

Once Luxord had manged to calm himself down, he stood up and jumped off the counter, gracefully landing on the tile below. "I'm going to go prove Demyx wrong. Goodbye for now, Xigbar." With a wave of his tail, Luxord started out of the bathroom, and just barely heard Xigbar wishing him luck on it. Well, it had a sarcastic tone to it, but he had known Xigbar for long enough to know that the underlying message was good-willed.

When he finally found Demyx, he noticed that the cat had somehow found Zexion and was badgering him about something. When he got close enough to hear them, he found that the blond cat was chattering about the last time he went into the pool, while Zexion was calmly listening.

Zexion was just strange. His fur was an odd silverish-blue hue, and he had a piece of fur that messily flopped over half of his face, so only one of his eyes could be seen. Whenever he actually spoke, it was either something painfully obvious or painstakingly cryptic. Either way, he never spoke any more than two sentences at a time.

So, of course it made it hard for Luxord to try to talk to the cat, but Demyx and Xigbar never seemed to have any trouble. As he walked up to the duo, Demyx didn't notice him, and continued on with his story.

"-but then Saix pushed Axel in and it was so much fun! He was so mad! Were you there when that happened?" Demyx continued, completely unaware of the confused cat next to him. Rather than interrupt the poor cat, Luxord decided to simply wait until Demyx finished his story or Zexion noticed him.

Zexion quickly noticed Luxord, and while his silver-blue ears perked up slightly, he made no other acknowledgment towards his existence. It couldn't have been a second before Zexion gave his full attention back to Demyx, who was excitedly waiting for a response.

"The entire day was just a mess," Zexion meowed, boredly pawing at the floor. Somehow, Demyx took that as a note to continue, and so he did.

"I know! Then Xaldin got into a fight with that terrier and the neighbors were mad. He wasn't allowed outside for a whole week, right? It was hilarious." At some point or another Luxord tuned out; Demyx's story made less and less sense as he continued, and it seemed more like he was making it up as he went along rather than actually trying to remember what happened.

Demyx finally noticed him ages later, just as Luxord was about to actually drift off into sleep. "Oh, Luxord! Hi!" Demyx greeted, his tail happily waving back and forth. "When did you get there?"

With a long, drawn-out yawn, Luxord stretched out, his claws gleefully digging into the carpet. He sat up, and glanced over at the other two cats. "A while ago," he replied.

"Oh. Sorry for not noticing you earlier..." Demyx sheepishly mewed, trailing off.

With a dismissive flick of his tail, the blond cat tried his best to convince Demyx that he didn't really care. It didn't take long for Demyx to perk back up, and once he did, Luxord decided to finally claim his victory. "Well, Xigbar told me the true story about how you became part of the family."

Demyx puffed out his chest proudly, and happily mewed, "see? Told ya my story was true." He stood up, his tail raising up with him until it stood straight up in the air.

Luxord sighed and shook his head. "No, Demyx. Xigbar told me the _real_ story," he meowed, staring straight at the blond cat, who was shrinking into himself in embarrassment. Zexion stood nearby, as stony and silent as ever.

Instantly Demyx's tail dropped down, the rest of his body quickly following suit. Even the pieces of his fur sporadically sticking up deemed to droop down. With his ears slumped down against his head, he muttered, "oh. I just wanted my own story about how Ansem got me to be interesting...because it's not."

"Nothing about me is interesting," Zexion cut in, his obvious attempt at making Demyx feel better failing horribly. Luxord stared at the silver-blue cat in confusion, but his statement was so self-depreciating that he decided not to comment on it. Instead, he turned to Demyx.

"Don't worry," he tried to assure Demyx, "my story isn't too interesting either."

Demyx perked up, his eyes growing wide with curiosity. "Really? Will you tell me?" He asked, gently tapping him in the side with his paw. Luxord gave a purr of amusement, and began his story.

"Ansem and.." Luxord paused, trying to remember the name of the other man. "...oh! The older Xehanort were at a casino once, and they bet that Xehanort couldn't find a cat that looked like Ansem."

"Now that you mention it," Demyx meowed, thoughtfully examining Luxord, "you do look kinda like Ansem. Your fur is the same color as his, and...uh, I dunno how to explain it, but you just remind me of him." He sat down again, glancing over to Zexion to see his reaction, but the other cat remained still.

"Anyways, as luck would have it, I had run away from the obsessive cat-collecting woman I used to live with, and I was hiding in the box just outside of the casino. Xehanort found me just when I ventured outside of my box to snatch a very tasty-looking dice, and so he took me to Ansem. Since Xehanort won the bet, not only did he have to pay him, he also had to take me in, so he did, and here I am."

"Let me guess," Zexion cut in, walking a little closer to Luxord, "you were named after the casino, correct?"

Luxord nodded, purring in amusement. "You guessed right."

Demyx jumped up, mewing in misery. When he sat back down, his eyes were even bigger than usual, reflecting all of the negative emotions he was feeling right at Luxord. "No fair!" He whined. "How come you get such a cool story! Mine's booooorrrriiiinnnnggg!"

The purr in Luxord's chest intensified, the laughter now tinged with embarrassment. "Really, it's not that interesting..."

* * *

OHMAHGOODNESS ALMOST 50 REVIEWS? I love you guys so much. 3 I really hope this chapter will push it up to 50...just three more reviews! :D

Its weird...since school started again, I've given myself a girliness upgrade. At heart, I'm still a gamer, so the last few days I've been sitting at the lunch table, my hair and makeup all done up and fancy while I play 358/2 Days. ^^; Really, I like it. 3 Sure, it takes longer to get ready, but whatever. I can deal with losing a tiny bit of sleep.

Eh, not too much to talk about. :P See you all next Tuesday~!


	13. Here She Comes to Save the Day!

Dedicated to anyone who's ever felt alone or out of place. :3

* * *

While Kairi usually didn't mind school, and while she liked relaxing at home with her family a lot more, the one thing she absolutely hated was getting up early in the morning. To get up before the sun rose was just terrible. The entire house was pitch-black, and she'd have to flounder around in the darkness just to find a light switch. Finding clothes that at least partially matched? Out of the question.

The alarm went off, blaring foreign music that buzzed in her head until her hand snaked out from underneath her blanket and smacked the offending piece of technology clear across the room.

She tried going back to sleep, but Saix's inner alarm clock had already gone off. He jumped onto her bed, gently padding over and sitting on her chest. He leaned down until his whiskers were tickling her ear, and meowed right into her ear.

With a groan, she rolled over, forcing the cat to jump off and patiently wait by her side. "Saix...five more minutes." Kairi pulled the covers over her head, and quickly drifted back off to sleep.

Sure enough, just as she was settling into a nice dream, another loud meow dragged her back into the waking world. She sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with one hand and attempting to comb her fingers through her hair with the other.

"Can someone get the lights?" She asked, looking around the pitch-black room. However, she quickly remembered that her cats couldn't operate the lights, so she got up and flicked the switch on herself, shielding her eyes from the harsh yellow light overhead.

After floundering around in her room some more, Rather than find clothes that at least partially matched, Kairi threw on a simple dress then stumbled about her room, searching for wherever her brush went.

"Any of you guys know where my brush went?" She asked the several cats sitting on her bed. The lazy bums watched her, but made no move to help or even suggest. She groaned, and shook her head. "Of course not. You never do."

Thankfully, Roxas at least tried to help, and dragged out a pair of socks from...somewhere. He sat down next to them, happily waiting for her to praise him. She laughed, and scratched the top of his head. "Silly boy. I'm already wearing socks." Dejectedly he padded over to her bed, scrabbling up the sheets to join Axel and the horde of cats on her bed.

A few minutes later she was finally ready for school, so she crept down the hall, cracking open Ansem's door so it wouldn't make an unnecessary sound and wake him up. With the small light filtering into his room from the hall, she saw Xemnas curled up at the end of his bed, with Zexion close by.

With a devious grin creeping onto her face, she snuck into the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. Xemnas woke up and kept a wary golden eye on her, but otherwise didn't move.

"Oh Daaaaaaaaaad," she whispered, gently tapping his side, knowing that he wouldn't wake up. He was a fairly heavy sleeper, which meant that in order to get him up, she'd have to pull out the big guns...

"WAKE UP, DAD!" Kairi yelled happily, accidentally waking up Zexion in the process. He gave her a piercing glare, then jumped off of the bed and retreated under it. With an incoherent mumble, Ansem rolled over, proceeding to go back to sleep.

"No Dad. Wake up. You need to take me to school," she reminded him, rocking his shoulder back and forth. "C'mon." She calmed down significantly, but her cheerful energy had been replaced with a more urgent tone.

With a little more prodding, she managed to wake him up and get him on his feet. She left the room, leaving to get the rest of her stuff.

* * *

Once Kairi opened the door, most of the cats on her bed jumped off and left, except for Axel and Roxas. With more of the bed available, Axel flopped down and lazily stretched out, taking up a good amount of the bed. Roxas stood nearby, sadly looking at the spot that Axel's paws had just taken. "I wanted to lay there..."

"Oops. Sorry." He brought his limbs closer to his body, allowing Roxas to take the spot he wanted. He curled into a ball, and was drifting off into sleep when he felt a small paw prod him in his side.

He curled up tighter and tried to ignore both it, and the voices beside him.

"C'mon, Roxas! You gotta get up!" He could recognize Xion's imploring, always excited voice anywhere. But he was tired, and he needed his nap.

Thankfully, Axel was there to save his sleep. His tone was harsh and rough, almost as mean-sounding as he was whenever he got into an argument with Saix. "Why does he have to get up?" The question was less of a question and more of a thinly veiled command, telling her to leave Roxas alone.

Xion, however, didn't seem to notice. "Because, the girl is about to leave and her bag's open. We gotta jump in there so we can finally find out where she goes every day! So we gotta get going, because she'll leave at any second and Namine's waiting outside for us." She hastily explained, the gentle sounds of her padding closer suddenly stopping when Axel growled.

"He's tired. Let him rest." Axel commanded, his tail slowly thumping against the bed. "You don't _need_ him to go with you, right?"

Her tone changed to something a little calmer, but also a little sadder; the excitement all but gone. "Well, no, but I thought-"

"Let him rest." Any hint of politeness was gone, leaving a completely serious, almost-threatening command in its place. Xion muttered something that Roxas didn't catch, then jumped off the bed and left the room.

He felt bad for his friend, and while normally he would have tried to go after her and see if she was okay, he was too tired to even move. He was simply exhausted, and even thinking was proving to be too much for him.

After a while, Axel moved closer to the kitten, and the half-asleep kitten cuddled closer to him for warmth. Once Axel found a comfortable spot, he started to talk. "I know, I know, that was mean. I know she's your friend. It's just that...it feels like ever since she came, you're spending all of your time with her. And, well...this is gonna sound dumb, but...I want you to spend time with me again."

Roxas had already fallen asleep, and so he didn't hear a single thing Axel told him.

* * *

When Xion came out of the room with her head low and her tail dragging along the floor, Namine knew something was wrong. Worried, she padded over to her friend and gave her shoulder a comforting lick. "S-so Roxas d-doesn't wanna come?"

The black kitten sat down, grumpily pawing at the carpet beneath them. "Yeah..."

Xion was almost never like this, and frankly, it worried Namine. With the prospect of a new adventure being so close, Xion should have been bouncing around the house like she had been doing before she went to ask Roxas to join them. Xion was the leader of the group; not Namine. Xion was the one who always dragged herself and Roxas along to go explore something new. Xion was the one who came up with the idea of hiding in the girl's bag in the first place!

"A-are we still g-gonna go?" Namine asked, gently nudging her friend's side in an attempt to get her to stand up.

"Yeah, I guess..." Xion meowed dejectedly, finally standing up. She followed Namine out of the room, even though Namine wasn't entirely sure where to go.

Right before they got out of the hallway, Namine went back to Xion and sat down. "I-I don't know where t-to go..." she confessed. "C-can you lead?"

A small spark lit up in Xion's eyes, but it was far from the usual flame of excitement that she was usually full of. "Yeah, I'll lead," she meowed, the slightest hint of a purr in her voice.

Xion pointed out the bag to Namine, and her pace picked up the closer they got to it. However, their progress was interrupted when a familiar cat appeared. "And where do you two think you're going?" The tone was more playful and teasing than harsh, and instantly Namine looked over to the sound of the voice.

"Larxene!" She mewed happily, running over and nuzzling the older blonde cat. A purr started in her chest, soothingly resonating throughout her entire body. Larxene licked the top of her head, then stepped back so she could get a good look at both of the kittens.

"And just what are you up to today?" She asked, padding over to Xion and playfully pawing at her. "You're gonna get into trouble, aren't you?"

"Noooo..." Xion mewed, stealing a glance at the bag. It slumped over the edge of the table it was on, and she was a jump and a few steps away from being completely hidden inside of it.

"We're g-gonna hide in the girl's b-bag, s-so we can see where s-she goes," Namine explained. She glanced back at Xion, whose focus was now fully directed at the bag. Nervously, she whispered, "d-do you t-think y-you could c-come with us? R-Roxas isn't, a-and Xion's sad...she n-needs someone to c-cheer her up." She crept back and tried to shrink within herself. She asked a stupid question, and Larxene didn't have to help, but Namine wouldn't be able to cheer Xion up, much less take the lead...

Larxene sat down, thoughtfully licking her paw. "Well..." she began, her emerald eyes slowly surveying the room, "I do have plans for today that don't involve hitching a ride in the girl's bag..."

"I'm s-sorry, I-I'm sorry, I-I-I'm s-sorry!" The timid kitten squeaked, closing her eyes and backing up as far as she could.

She ran into a warm, fuzzy thing, causing her to jump forward in shock. She turned around, her eyes wide with shock and confusion, only to see Larxene standing there, purring in amusement. "Namine, it's fine," she meowed, nuzzling the top of her head, "I'll tag along."

"R-really?" The kitten mewed, her disbelief quickly fading into relief. "T-thanks..."

"Then let's go. Xion, you jump first," Larxene commanded, flicking her tail towards the black kitten. She nodded in response, then clawed her way up the table and into the bag, snuggling into the very back corner. Namine wouldn't have even known that Xion was in the bag, if she hadn't watched her jump into it.

"You next, Namine," Larxene gently pushed the frightened kitten forward. Namine looked back at the older cat, who watched her intently. She swallowed, slowly and fearfully padding towards the open bag. She blinked, trying her very best to steel her courage. She had to be strong. She had to do this.

She leaped towards the bag, and stretched her legs out as far as they could possible go. Her claws were fully extended, and she just needed to hook onto the fabric to be safe.

Unfortunately, she had miscalculated her jump and fell several inches short. She came crashing to the ground in a messed-up tangle of limbs. Larxene was at her side in an instant, helping her up and comforting her as best as she could. Namine whimpered, trying her best to ignore the dull throbbing pain in her front leg.

"Alright..." Larxene muttered, biting Namine's scruff and making her yowl in shock and fright. She hopped up to the bag, climbing inside of it and setting the blonde kitten down.

Before long, they heard the door open and loud, quick footsteps sound through the house. Namine pressed into Larxene's side, trying to keep herself as still as possible. It didn't work, and a slight tremble passed through her body. Larxene tried her best to give her a reassuring look, but Namine didn't notice.

They watched as a delicate hand appeared, closing the part of the bag that they used to get into it. Suddenly, the bag was picked up and the cats were jostled around, trying their best not to make any sounds. Before long, the bag became still again, and they all relaxed in relief.

* * *

Kairi walked into her first class, her bag slung over one shoulder like usual. Riku and Sora called it a 'boy backpack,' because it was huge, bulky, and covered in skulls and graffiti. She didn't care that all of the other girls' backpacks were really just glorified handbags; her's was functional and roomy.

She really didn't talk to many people in her class. Sure, there was Riku, Lea, and Isa, but she only saw them at lunch and they were all a grade higher than her. The only ones she really talked to were Sora and an odd girl in the band program named Peggy. While Sora was one of her best friends, Peggy was nothing more than an acquaintance that she only talked to at school.

None of her friends were there yet, so Kairi settled on sitting down at her desk and watching the other kids interact with each other. Regardless of how cliché it was, those high school sitcoms were, for the most part, true to life: the popular, pretty girls hung out with the popular, pretty girls, the sporty guys hung out with the sporty guys, the nerdy band kids hung out with the nerdy band kids (strangely, they all wore pendants around their necks of different things), and in general similar people were friends.

As for Kairi...well, she was probably considered an outcast or a loner (not like she really cared). She was happy with the way her life was, and if they had a problem with it and if they thought that she was weird, then so be it. Being weird was more fun than being normal, anyways.

The redheaded girl looked over at the clock, seeing the minute hand crawling closer and closer to the XII. Knowing that it was better to be prepared early, she set her backpack on her desk and unzipped it...

...only to have three very frazzled and confused cats stumble out. She gasped in horror, watching them as they slowly crawled out of her backpack and onto her desk.

Larxene stumbled out first, slightly ahead of the other two. She was also the first to recover, and within a few seconds sat down and started grooming her out of place fur.

At first, Namine stayed in the backpack, crouched towards the back and trying her very best to keep the world from swimming around her. However, once she realized that she was finally free from the bag, and, most importantly, that Larxene wasn't with her, she jumped up and dashed to the older cat's side, letting Larxene groom her as well.

Once Namine stopped blocking the very back of the backpack, Xion happily trotted out, sitting down in the middle of Kairi's desk and examining the world around her in wonder.

Kairi quickly checked them over, and when she was positive that they weren't hurt, started to finally give them a piece of her mind. She didn't even notice the fact that a majority of the class was crowded around her, anxiously asking about the cats. While the question of why she brought them bounced back and forth, the loudest one was asking if they could hold and pet the cats.

"You guys!" Kairi said, utterly exasperated. The relief and worry had vanished, leaving an upset glare in its place. "Why were you in my backpack? You shouldn't have hitched a ride, I mean, what if you got hurt!"

The other students buzzed around her, but she continued on. "Seriously, you could have got crushed on smashed or destroyed..." she continued to list the various ways that they could have gotten injured, counting each one off on her fingers. Larxene watched her in calm acceptance, Namine in fear-stricken regret, and Xion was too busy trying to figure out a way to safely get down to the ground and explore to pay attention to the girl's rant.

"-chick, you can stop now." One of the nearby boys said, inserting himself to the front of the crowd. "They're cats."

Finally noticing the existence of the other students, Kairi turned around to face the boy. "I know _that_," Kairi snapped, her glare coming back. "Doesn't mean that they shouldn't be told off."

The crowd started to disperse, quietly muttering to themselves as they went back to their seats. The boy stayed where he was, watching her as if she was talking in another language. "Uhh...you _do_ realize that they can't understand you, right? That they're _cats_," he explained, slowly sounding out the last word for her as if she was some sort of idiot.

Kairi stared at him in simple confusion. "Yes...they're cats," she replied, reaffirming his statement. "And no, they can understand me. Just look at them!" She pointed to the small group in question, who, except for Larxene, weren't paying attention to her at all. "Larxene's watching me." She stated proudly.

"She's watching you because you just pointed at her..." He shot back, sighing. By this point the rest of the crowd was completely gone, except for two cruel-looking girls, who hungrily watched Kairi and the boy argue.

"Awww, don't be so mean, hunny-bear," one of the girls cooed, resting her hand on his arm and giving him a small pout. Her friend tried her best to hold in her giggles, but they spilled out. "It's not her fault the only things that will ever like her don't even care enough to listen."

The girls' masks broke, the pouting girl's slowly-growing grin snapping hers in two and the other girl's harsh, mocking laughter shattering her mask, leaving the pieces to scatter across the room.

"Hey-that-I," Kairi sputtered, unable to think up a retort. The boy groaned and left, muttering about how weird girls could be, causing the two girls to burst into another fit of laughter. Kairi watched them, utterly lost.

The second girl finally stopped laughing, stepping closer to the redhead. "You know its true," she whispered, her words coated in sadistic glee. "Nobody here likes you. You're nothing but a freak. An outcast."

"An ugly little bug who needs to be squashed," the first girl added, gently laying her hand onto the desk. "And guess who's wearing the boot!" She teased, her smile so wide and blinding with hate that Kairi had to look away. The other girl broke into a smile as well, interspersed with giggles.

"You're wearing boots today. That is awesome," the girl's friend commented.

Kairi sighed, turning back to the cats and gently herding them back into her backpack. Xion mewed in protest, and rather than fight with her, Kairi simply picked her up and set her back in. Thankfully, Larxene went in a little more willingly, and Namine followed behind her.

She didn't put it above the two girls to somehow harm her family, and while they could tease her and hurt her all she wanted, they weren't going to touch her family. "Sorry," she whispered, quickly zipping up the backpack while the girls weren't paying attention.

"Did you say something?" They snapped, heads whipping towards her in unison. Kairi shook her head, giving them a tight-lipped smile.

"Ugh, whatever," the first girl said, rolling her eyes. A boot-clad foot kicked Kairi's leg, making her wince in pain. "Good thing the teacher isn't here yet." With matching devious grins, they exchanged glances.

Kairi gently picked up her backpack, giving it a small hug and hoping the cats trapped inside would understand why she was doing what she was. She set it down beside her desk, then rose from her seat, glaring at the taller girls with more confidence than she really had. "I'm not afraid of you," she spat, trying her very best to force them back.

They didn't budge. Nobody in the room budged. Nobody came to help. Most of the students watched, and a few even had the gall to cheer and yell 'fight,' but not a single one lifted a finger to help her. As the two monsters came closer, Kairi tried her very best to stand her ground.

That's when they attacked. Hands grabbed, nails tore, and arms flailed about as they tried to hurt her anyway they could. Kairi tried her best to defend herself, but she was outmatched and outnumbered.

"Hey! Get your hands off of her!" Kairi's attacker froze, slowly backing away from her. The voice sounded too mature to be another student, so the girls hurriedly looked around for the source of the sound.

Strangely, the voice didn't come from a teacher, but a girl their age. A wiry girl with her brown hair in two braids and huge, circular glasses over her eyes. She wore one of the band's hundreds of special t-shirts, but Kairi couldn't tell which specific one because her arms were crossed over the design.

Peggy had arrived to save the day.

"Oh, whatever," one of the girls scoffed. "It's just some nerd."

"Really now?" Peggy asked, a triumphant smirk stretching across her face. "Oh, Mr. Reed!" She called out the door, stepping back as their large and intimidating teach came into the room.

He took one look at Kairi, and instantly his confused smile melted into an angry frown. "Girls. Office. Now." He commanded, dead serious. The girls tried to stammer their way into an excuse, but he wouldn't have any of it. "NOW." He ordered, barely able to keep himself from yelling. "I do NOT tolerate any form of violence. Now, we are going to the principal's office. All of you."

The girls who attacked Kairi sighed and stormed out of the classroom, tailed by the teacher. Peggy told him that they would catch up in a few minutes, then dashed over to Kairi. "Are you okay?" She asked, checking her friend over. "Because your dress isn't."

For a brief second, Kairi flushed, but willed the color away from her cheeks. "Yeah, I'll be fine...thanks for helping me." She said, hugging her friend.

Peggy enthusiastically returned the hug. "Anytime! Now, how about we go get those jerks in trouble? He may have sounded upset, but he's not mad at you. Just them." She explained, gently nudging Kairi in the side with her elbow.

"Yeah, lets." Together they walked towards the principal's office, as Kairi pulled out her phone and called Ansem, quickly explaining the situation and asking him to come pick up the cats. Thankfully, he agreed.

* * *

Before long, Xion, Namine, and Larxene found themselves in the passenger seat of Ansem's car. He had chastised them for hiding in her backpack, but thankfully they weren't in too much trouble.

The three cats huddled together on the passenger seat, sitting down and trying their best to relax during the bumpy ride. "Hey, why were those girls so mean to Kairi?" Namine asked Larxene, pale blue eyes shining with curiosity.

Larxene shook her head. "Humans are...weird sometimes." She answered, not wanting to say anything more. Namine didn't have to know everything; not yet.

"Oh." She mewed, looking away. "Okay then."

"At least this was fun! That place was so full of people!" Xion meowed happily. Namine and Larxene purred in amusement, while Xion gave them an offended look. "What? It was."

* * *

Yay, another chapter for you guys! This one took FOREVER. xDx I also wrote it a while ago, heh heh... ^^;

AGSFJSJGKSD 50 REVIEWS. 50 FRIGGIN REVIEWS. I can't believe it. Thank all of you so much for helping and reading. Without your feedback, I wouldn't continue with this story. Really, thanks for reading, everyone. :3

On a random note, I'm not entirely sure why, but I've been really tired lately. I'm sore, and I hurt, and just blegh...really, I want spring break back so I can sleep again. xD Only 8 more weeks or school!

Eh, that's all from me. See you all next Tuesday~


	14. ANOTHER Kitten Joins the Fun

Dedicated to all of my friends. :3

* * *

If there was one thing Hayner wasn't used to, it was change. Day in and day out, he followed the same basic pattern: wake up, groom self, eat, nap, walk around the house, get the humans to pay attention to him, eat, go to the litterbox, and go to sleep. Pence and Olette followed similar patterns, and while their lives weren't exactly exciting, they were simple and comfortable.

After hearing Sora talk about his friend's new kittens for the umpteenth time, Hayner decided to go find another cat to talk to. Sure, Sora was his owner and his friend, but sometimes the kid just didn't know when to shut up. He could go on and on about the same topic for forever.

Thankfully, he soon found both Pence and Olette sunning themselves in the window. He hopped up into the windowsill, landing perfectly on the small strip of wood. Years of practice had taught him exactly where to jump and how much power to use while jumping. For him, that was one of the few good things about getting older.

He made his way over to the two cats, sitting down next to Olette. "You know what really bugs me?" He meowed, waiting for the other two cats to notice him before he continued, "how Sora won't shut up about his friend's kittens."

"It's just what he does," Pence meowed, looking at Hayner as if he were an idiotic little kitten, "he's always loved animals."

"That, and the fact that he hasn't had one in years," Olette chimed in. "He's probably just jealous of his friends, and maybe he wants one for himself."

Hayner snorted, remembering how hard Sora had to fight just to get the cats he already had. He ended up doing some pretty crazy stuff, and it was crystal-clear that the older humans did not want any more cats. But, deep down they all knew that if Sora really wanted something, he could find a way to get it regardless of his parents' opinions.

The three cats sat in silence for a while, each thinking about what the others had said. Somehow, a little seed of doubt and worry had planted itself in their minds, and they just couldn't shake it.

Eventually, Hayner broke the silence, casually flopping down onto his side (or as best as he could) on the narrow windowsill. "Still, something tells me that he just might get one. I don't know why, but I can just...feel it."

Much to his displeasure, Pence and Olette murmured their agreements. If he wasn't the only one feeling that way, then he knew that something was going to happen.

Rather than dwell on the idea of a new cat possibly coming, Hayner decided to change the subject; it was better than staying in an awkward silence and falling asleep. They did it a lot.

"Hey, Olette...you're better now, right?" He asked hesitantly, earning a slightly confused glance from her.

It soon faded into a small, amused purr. "If I wasn't, I wouldn't be in the window with you two, now would I?"

"Yeah, don't worry, Hayner. She's fine," Pence meowed, lazily scratching behind his ear.

Hayner puffed up in indignation. "What, it's now wrong for me to worry about my friends?" He asked sarcastically, jokingly glaring at them and trying his best to hide the purr in his meow.

"Calm down, silly," Olette meowed. "No need to get your fur in a knot."

"Yeah, you shouldn't overreact so much," Pence added in. The furball never knew when to shut his mouth.

"Hey! Enough from the peanut gallery!" Hayner's groan quickly faded into a purr of amusement. "I don't know why I'm friends with you two."

"Neither do we," Pence and Olette mewed in unison. Before long, purrs of amusement and laughter were steadily rumbling in all of their chests.

* * *

As luck would have it, right as the three cats were conversing about Sora and kittens, Sora was biking to Riku's from the shelter. Kairi was busy today, so it was just going to be the two boys; an event that really hadn't happened in a while. While both Riku and Kairi were his equal best friends, he hadn't hung out with just Riku for a few weeks, while he spent every other day with Kairi, with or without the silver-haired teen.

As he sped down one of the many busy streets in town, he whizzed past many small, quaint suburban homes that populated the entire town. Unlike Kairi, Riku's house was on the 'poorer' side of town (if any part of this town _could_ be considered poor; really, it was just lower-to-middle-class). At least not all the houses looked the same.

Before too long he rode into the driveway of one of the many quaint, small homes. The basic, light blue paint was typical for this neighborhood, but what really set it apart was the lawn decorations. To say the least, Riku's mom had an..._interest_ in lawn decorations.

To be specific, pink flamingos. Bright, tacky, plastic pink flamingos that littered their yard like trash on a windy day. A little more tastefully arranged were the glowing lamps Riku's dad loved sticking up from the freshly-cut lawn, but combined with the army of flamingos their yard looked like a complete mess. It was a good thing that Riku realized how utterly tacky his yard looked, so he didn't try to add something like lawn gnomes or sandwiches to the chaos.

As he got off his bike and leaned it against the door to Riku's garage, he heard one of the few shrubs along the edges of the yard rustle. Instantly curiosity took over his common sense. He'd go check out the source of the noise, then go to the door and see if Riku was there.

Slowly he stepped onto the grass, trying his best to keep his footsteps from being too loud. Unfortunately, the grass crunching underneath his shoes was in fact very loud, and it certainly didn't help that he ran into a few flamingos on the way over.

After about the third time Sora ran into a flamingo and fell face-first into the ground, the shrub rustled again, and a small, silver furry head popped out. Aquamarine eyes gave him an irritable stare, lingering for a few seconds before the head disappeared into the bush again.

Rather than get up and just trip again, Sora stayed on the ground, attempting to crawl over to the shrub where the kitten (it was a kitten!) was hiding. Surprisingly, he made a lot less noise than he did walking over to it.

As he crawled, a strange sense of excitement came over him. For a few seconds, he felt kind of like a super-spy infiltrating the enemy's bases. He imagined himself crawling through the air ducts, slowly sneaking his way past dozens of armed soldiers staring off into space, unaware of his very presence. Once he reached the boss's office, he burst through the grate, landing right in front of the boss and ending his imagination sequence.

"Here, kitty kitty," Sora called, softly clicking his tongue. Within a few seconds, the silver head popped out of the bush again, and Sora leaped for it, managing to wrap his hands around its thin body.

The silver kitten struggled in vain; Sora quickly grabbed its scruff and brought it close to his chest. Standing up, he examined the kitten. Exactly what he expected; thin, dirty, angry, and clearly a stray.

However, while he expected the kitten to struggle and try to get away, it (well...as Sora just found out, he) didn't. He relegated himself to simply staring at the bundle of fur in his arms, and said bundle of fur stared back.

That gaze felt familiar. One of impatience, exasperation, annoyance, and the slightest bit of amusement. It felt like the look Riku almost always had in his eyes whenever Sora was around. And as Sora examined the kitten, it finally stuck him that his fur was the exact same shade as Riku's hair, and their eyes were exactly the same. Well, about as exactly the same as a cat's and a human's eyes could get.

So, of course, the first thing that popped into Sora's head was to show Riku his cat-self. The brunet happily rang the doorbell, and soon found himself face to face with his very upset best friend. His hair was disheveled, he was still in his pajamas, and a little black kitten happily clung to his shoulder. "Yes, Sora?" He practically spat.

"I found your cat-self!" Sora announced, proudly holding up the cat. Cat-Riku and human-Riku stared at each other for several seconds, and countless unspoken thoughts and emotions passed between the two. Finally, Riku broke the strange bond by reaching over and scratching the cat's head.

"He's cute, and he does look like me, but I do _not_ want another cat." He sent a glare to the cat on his shoulder, who reacted by digging his claws deeper into Riku's flannel pajama shirt and...hissing happily.

It was at that moment that Sora found out that cats could _hiss _happily.

"Uhh...anyways, you can't keep him?" Sora asked, holding the cat up next to his face and pouting. "Just look at his wittle furry face." The cat remained impassive as Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want the cat."

Sora frowned, setting the kitten in the crook of his arm as Riku tried to get the wannabe parrot off of his shoulder. After a few unsuccessful tries, he gave up, and now tried for his new goal of ignoring the kitten.

"But I can't leave him out here!" Sora complained, stomping his foot on the ground like a child. He knew he was starting to act childish, and frankly, he was fine with it.

Riku sighed, rolling his eyes. "Who says you have to? Ask Kairi or ask your parents." He knew better than to mention the shelter.

A smile slowly formed of Sora's face, growing until it was a grin reaching from ear to ear. "Great idea! Hold him so I can call Kairi, alright?"

Sora trust the cat into Riku's arms. The second the cat was comfortably situated in his arms, the black parrot-cat on his shoulder threw a fit. Exasperated, Riku used his free arm to wrench the cat out of his shoulder and set it down on the floor. He hissed again, this time out of annoyance, before scampering off into the house.

Sora dug into his pockets, searching for his phone. It didn't take long for his hand to wrap around a rectangular piece of metal and plastic. He quickly pulled it out, and in an instance had punched her number in on the keyboard. While both Riku and Cat-Riku watched him with the same expression, he waited for Kairi to pick up.

Thankfully, she was fast. "Sora?" Came her hesitant voice. She always sounded more nervous on the phone.

"Hey Kairi! It's Sora. I found this stray, and Riku can't take and and I know my parents would say no-"

She cut him off before he could even ask the question. "-sorry, but Dad told me that we can't have any more cats."

"Are you sure?" He pleaded. "Go ask him maybe?"

She sighed. "He specifically told me no more cats. Sorry, Sora. Just take him to the shelter?"

He grimaced, prompting inquisitive stares from both Riku and the cat in his arms. "I can't do that, and I can't just leave him out on the streets!"

"Sora, I would if I could, but I really can't. Have you called your parents yet to ask?"

"No."

"Then try that." With that, she hung up. Sora shoved the phone back in his pockets and crossed his arms, sighing.

"I'm guessing no?" Riku asked, exchanging glances with the cat.

"She can't. Already has too many cats." Sora bit the bottom of his lip, deep in thought. He needed to find a place for the kitten, but both Riku and Kairi said no. They were the only people he talked to outside of school, so it wasn't like he could go up to one of his classmates and ask them. He couldn't take it to the shelter, because they might deem it feral and put it to sleep.

Which meant that he only had one choice left...

"Sora," Riku said, jolting him out of his thoughts, "how long are you planning on standing there? Because I made a grilled cheese sandwich and its getting cold." Cat-Riku seemed to be getting impatient as well, and the look that he gave Sora clearly showed that.

"Just one last call, okay?" He begged, digging the phone out of his pocket again. Even though he already knew the answer, if it meant saving a life, one last ditch effort was worth it.

* * *

In the amount of time Sora spent in a grievous mixture of arguing and pleading with both his mother and his father, he had flopped down on Riku's lawn, had Cat-Riku transferred to his lap, listened to Riku's shouts from inside the house (he guessed it was because of the parrot-cat latched to his shoulder earlier), and watched Riku eat a cold grilled-cheese sandwich.

He didn't know how long it had taken, but eventually his mother finally caved in and agreed to take in Cat-Riku. With a triumphant cheer, he flung the phone into the neatly trimmed grass, waking up the kitten in his lap and distracting Riku from his current occupation of kicking over plastic flamingos.

"They said yes! THEY SAID YES!" He cheered, hugging the cat tightly to his chest, who meowed in confused protest. "Sorry Riku," he hopped up and spun around, facing his silver-haired friend, "but I gotta take Kittyku home!"

Sora started to walk back to where his bike was parked, but a hand firmly holding his arm kept him in place. "Wait...did you seriously just call him Kittyku?" Riku asked, shaking his head in disgust.

To his displeasure, Sora nodded. "Now that I think about it...that's gonna be his new name!" He smiled, the grin stretching from ear to ear.

Riku grimaced. "...please tell me you're kidding."

"Nope!"

Riku knew when to give up. His shoulders slumped, and he let go of his friend's arm. Sora settled for tilting his head and staring at him, but Riku ignored his expression and went back into his house without a word. Rather than try to chase after him and wrestle an explanation for the odd behavior out of him, Sora shrugged and went over to his bike. Kittyku, still in his arms, mewed impatiently, as if he was waiting for Sora to stop standing around and go home.

So he did just that.

* * *

As the three older cats of his new home circled him, Kittyku felt like he was being judged. Even though they looked vastly different, all three held the same contemptuous displeasure towards him. They all bore the same expression; ears back and eyes narrowed, with the slightest glint of a canine tooth peeking out from under their lips.

He watched them with an impassive gaze. They would be done soon enough, and either accept him or hate him. Either way, his stomach was snarling in protest, twisting itself into painful knots and kinks. The food bowl -while full of unnatural little pellet-things- looked extremely tantalizing, but he couldn't bypass the older cats.

After they circled him so many times he'd lost count, he couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, I'm really hungry, so can I please go eat? Please?" He mewed, calmly waiting for them to blow up in front of his face.

With a growl, the blond cat sat down. "Kittens! Always thinking about food. Can't believe them." Kittyku cautiously stepped forward, but none of them made a move to stop him. With a grateful nod, he dashed to the food bowl and ate until his stomach was about to burst.

"He's going to eat all of the food," Hayner growled. After seeing that he was getting no sympathy from his companions, he settled for more grumbling. "Why did I have to be right? Ugh..."

He was only met with purrs of amusement.

* * *

You know what sucks? When you're in show choir and your show choir keeps getting last or second-to-last place. D: We have ONE more competition...at Disney's California Adventure. I'm guessing a LOT of show choirs are going to be there, and if we don't win first place I'm going to cry. It's DISNEY. We have to win. D:

Anywho, I'm really tired. My week is packed, as is my Saturday, so Sunday's usually just spent lounging about. Plus this week is testing and blagh. D: Oh well. It'll all be over soon and summer shall be here.

Btw, now that Kittyku is here, I believe that all of the KH OC cast has finally arrived. :D Took 'em long enough.

See you all next Tuesday.


	15. Movie Night Madness

For once, Kairi's day was going to be busy. Sora had convinced both her and Riku to do some volunteer work with him (she wasn't even sure of what they were going to do; probably trash pick-up by the side of the road or something), followed by a trip to the local ice cream shop. Once they got their fill of the best ice cream in town, it was off to the arcade for an air hockey tournament, and once one of them was crowned champion, they would retire to her house for a night of watching and making fun of cheesy horror movies. Ansem had even bought enough microwaveable popcorn to last the entire night. It was going to be perfect.

Well, that _was_ her plan, until a fierce thunderstorm brewed itself out of the few fluffy clouds littering the sky. No more than an hour later the rain pummeled the town as the thunder boomed uproariously in the background. Flashes of lightning littered the sky, illuminating the dark clouds for a brief moment before fading away into the atmosphere. Occasionally as the wind whipped the clouds around, the sun would peek out, but within a few minutes the cloud would cover it again, thrusting the town back into darkness.

Kairi sighed, closing the blinds on the bedroom window. There was no way that her plans for the day would happen with that kind of weather. Whenever there was a thunderstorm, Sora's parents wouldn't even let him near a window, let alone let him outside. As for herself and Riku...well, they were both smart enough to know not to go outside with weather as terrible as that.

She spent the next few hours in her room; completing whatever menial task she could find just to pass the time: reading spare magazines she had picked up at school and never bothered to touch, actually taking the time to sort out the clothes that covered the floor of her room, putting away the clothes that were clean, and for the first time in years, cleaning her room.

Once she had done just about everything she could have though of in her room, she opened the door to leave, but her eyes quickly darted to the floor, and she stopped mid-step.

Saix stood in the middle of the hall, tail trashing excitedly and eyes brimming with relief and adoration. He ran straight to her, happily rubbing against her legs and weaving himself in-between them, his loud purr filling the hallway. She broke out into a smile, and scooped up the purring cat into her arms.

"Saix, you get worried so easily. Calm down," she jokingly chided the blue cat, scratching behind one of his ears. He closed his eyes and purred even louder, glad to be given the attention he wanted and relieved that his master was safe.

She gently shut the door behind her, positive that no cats had managed to slip in while she was preoccupied with Saix. And if they were, well...she'd check in a bit.

Before long, Kairi found herself in the living room, staring at the huge flat screen TV in the middle of the large area, Saix still in her arms. A stack of DVDs rested on the coffee table, and she sighed as the memory of what her day was supposed to be like went through her head. She quickly shook it away, and bit her lip in thought.

"Hmm...might as well watch a few of these. Its only," she pulled her cell phone out of the pocket of her jeans, "6, and I still have a few more hours to kill." She set Saix down on the couch (next to the sleeping Lexaeus, who stayed asleep as Saix padded over to the other side of the couch), and hovered over the stack of DVDs, scanning the back of their cases in an attempt to decide which one to pick. Normally she'd have Riku pick which movie to watch, since he was good at finding the best ones to laugh at, but the choice was much, much harder for her by herself.

Thunder boomed outside, as if nature itself was laughing at her inability to make a decision. She scowled in the general direction of the window, but her anger was replaced with surprise when the sound of frantic claws tearing into the carpet reached her. She whipped around, and found several cats at her feet.

They all shared similar traits: eyes wide with fear, chests heaving, fur standing up on end, and puffy tails that looked three times bigger than they really were. She shook her head in mild amusement, then crouched down. "Calm down, everyone. It's just a little storm." After a few moments, most of them heeded her advice and calmed down

She made a quick mental count of the cats. Including the cats on the couch, every cat save for Xemnas, Xaldin, and Xion was there. Xemnas and Xaldin weren't afraid of thunderstorms and were probably just relaxing somewhere, but she didn't know about Xion. She would have to check to make sure that they mischievous kitten hadn't slipped into her room while she wasn't looking.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have to check, as Xion padded towards the group, head held high and tail waving proudly in the air. Kairi giggled; the kitten was being a show-off again, trying to prove that she wasn't afraid of thunderstorms. However, the thunder boomed again, mocking her for her false pride as her facade dropped and she frantically scrambled to join the group.

"Alright, now to try to pick a movie again," she reminded herself, going back to the stack of DVDs. The pack of cats slowly dissipated, laying down in several different spots in the living room as she tried to make a decision.

Eventually, she gave up and grabbed the DVD at the top of the stack. "Werewolves?" She shrugged. "Works for me."

She set the DVD down on the couch, then scurried around the living room, flicking off all the lights, turning the DVD player on, and opening the blinds, using the thunderstorm as the perfect backdrop for the movie. She went to the hallway, grabbing a sufficient amount of blankets and pillows from the linen closet before returning to the living room and popping the DVD into the player.

She settled herself down on the couch, remote firmly in hand. Within a few moments cats littered the couch with her, and with a large smile, she pressed play.

* * *

As they watched the movie, the cats arranged themselves into small groups. Xemnas and Xaldin quickly joined the group, and, along with Saix, positioned themselves as close to Kairi on the couch as they could be. Namine was huddled behind Larxene, occasionally working up the courage to watch the movie before Lexaeus decided to join them. Namine settled on sitting in-between the two older cats. At the very end of the couch were Axel and Roxas; the older cat keeping his younger friend protectively shielded in case Saix decided to start anything.

Vexen and Marluxia leaned against the couch, now in a new contest to see who could watch the movie the longest without getting scared and looking away. Xigbar, Zexion, Luxord, and Demyx were off to the side; Demyx telling the other three cats outrageous stories that they both knew were fake but decided to listen anyways.

Xion was the only cat alone; she had positioned herself directly in front of the TV, and at first watched the screen intently, utterly fascinated with the movie. The second the werewolf's howl was heard, fear raced through her veins, chilling her blood and freezing her in place. She tried to bolt away, but the fear was so intense she couldn't will her body to move.

By the time the movie ended, the thunderstorm was over and the clouds were parting, letting the light of the full moon shine down into the house. Kairi, upset at the fact that the movie -in her opinion- was terrible, turned off the TV and left the room, grumbling about how she needed a bit of sleep.

Even though it didn't scare Kairi in the least bit, the cheesy movie thoroughly frightened the kittens. The adults -save for Demyx and Zexion, though the latter would _never_ admit it- were barely affected in the least. In fact, several of them had gone to sleep in the middle of the movie.

Vexen and Marluxia got in a tie, and both quickly left to go find another task that they could compete against each other in. Saix watched them leave with a bored yawn, then left himself. After checking to make sure that Xemnas was asleep and wouldn't follow him, he jumped off of the couch and left to go sit in the window.

He stared up at the moon, letting its gentle rays illuminate his fur. Under its heavenly light, he felt...different. He couldn't exactly place the feeling, but it was a rush; like the gentle rays raced through his veins, invigorating him and filling him with a strange power.

"I will get you soon..." he muttered, refusing to look away from it. He still hadn't figured out a plan to get it yet, but even after years of planning, his desire to get the moon and give it to Xemnas stayed. Not once had he found any other present worthy of the Alpha, so his resolve stayed firm. Only the moon was magnificent enough.

And it would be his soon enough.

* * *

Roxas didn't wanna move. At all. He had pressed himself firmly into Axel's side and _nothing was going to make him move_. If he moved, the werewolf would come after him, and then he'd get eaten just like the kitty in the movie. He felt Axel stir, and let out an anxious mew. "Don't go..."

He quickly received a purr of amusement from the older cat. "I was just stretching," he meowed, swiping his tongue over the top of the kitten's head. "Are you scared or something?"

Roxas lowered his head, trying his best to ignore Axel's teasing look. "N-no. I'm not scared."

"Really?" Axel asked.

Roxas wasn't exactly the best cat when it came to hiding things, especially from Axel. "...okay, it was kinda scary," he confessed, taking the blow to what little pride he had. "I don't wanna get eaten by a werewolf."

Axel mrrowed with laughter. "There's no such thing as a werewolf."

There was a pause as Roxas let the information sink in, soothing him slightly. A new question popped up into his head, and Roxas felt the need to voice it. "...are were-cats real?"

"Well, werewolfs aren't real, so were-cats probably aren't real either." Axel explained, not realizing that the smallest hint of uncertainty in his voice made a fresh wave a paranoia flow through the blond kitten.

"If you say so..." Roxas muttered.

"You don't believe me?" Axel asked in disbelief.

"Erm...not really."

The red cat's ears drooped down. "Oh..." Rather than let his disappointment show, he shook it off and decided to focus on something else. "Would you feel better if you got some other cat's opinion?"

Roxas nodded, feeling a bit of shame for not trusting the older cat's opinion. After all, Axel had never lied or did anything bad to him before, and they _were_ best friends So why did he doubt him now?

As the two cats got up and as Roxas stayed as close as he could get to Axel, he realized what the answer was.

Because were-cats were scary, that's why.

The two approached the small group of cats by the side of the couch. Luckily for them, Demyx had just finished telling another one of his crazy stories, and noticed them walk up. "Hey guys!" He greeted happily. "What's up?"

The other three members of the group nodded in acknowledgment, but all of them reached a collective decision to let Demyx do all the talking.

"Hey, Roxas wants to know, do you guys think were-cats are real?" Axel asked, gently pushing the blond kitten in front of him. "I don't think so, but he wanted to ask some other cats and see what they thought about it."

Demyx stared at them blankly for a few moments, before breaking the stare to glance back at the other cats. Zexion remained neutral, Xigbar had an air of smug amusement about him, while Luxord was the only one who looked remotely confused. With a small huff, Demyx gave up and turned back to Axel and Roxas. "Well, maybe...but what's a were-cat?" He asked, looking at them with big ocean blue eyes that had only an innocent confusion in them. He looked more like a kitten than an adult cat at that moment, and strangely, it worked for him.

Axel purred in amusement. "Simple. A were-cat's basically a werewolf, but instead of being a human, they're a cat. They still go around and eat cats though," he explained. Roxas instinctively cuddled closer to the red cat, and for a brief second, saw fear flash through Zexion's eyes, putting a crack in his apathetic shell. As for Demyx, the fear stayed in his expression.

"...I don't like were-cats..." Demyx whispered.

Zexion tried his best to cheer Demyx up. However, Zexion being Zexion, only served to confuse the other cats. "Don't worry, Demyx. Were-things don't like eating cats like you." Nobody understood what he meant by 'cats like Demyx,' but Demyx at least perked up a bit at the silver-blue cat's statement.

"Thanks, Zexion. You always know what to say to make me feel better," he mewed happily, leaving the other cats (save for Xigbar, who watched the others' reactions with an amused purr) at a loss for words.

An awkward silence followed, and while Xigbar was the only one capable of safely breaking it, he made no move to.

In reality, it was Roxas who finally worked up the courage to break the silence. "Umm...so you guys do think were-cats are real, right?" The other cats nodded in unison, making an uneasy feeling rise in his tummy.

Axel noticed his uneasiness, and in an attempt to soothe the kitten, asked, "well, nobody thinks that there are any were-cats in the house, _right_?" He bared his teeth in a snarl, making sure that the others wouldn't say anything so Roxas wouldn't be so scared.

"I do." Xigbar meowed, standing up and taking Axel's 'challenge.' Axel narrowed his eyes, sending the older cat a fierce glare, which Xigbar's single eye returned with just as much emotion. "In fact, we all know who the were-cat is, don't we?"

"Are you trying to say that one of us is a were-cat, Xigbar?" Luxord asked.

Xigbar shook his head, imitating a human's smile and creeping Roxas out. "Not one of us, Luxord, but maybe one of our brothers." he shot a wry glance at Axel, his smile growing wider as the red cat puffed up with irritation.

"My brother is _not_ a were-cat!" Axel snarled, knowing that Xigbar was referring to him. None of the other cats had a brother who lived with them. Xigbar growled in response, happy to see that Axel had taken the bait.

Axel crouched down into a pounce, getting ready to attack the older cat for insulting his brother when Roxas mewed anxiously. "Axel, don't fight him," the kitten begged. "You're not gonna win."

"Yeah!" Demyx piped up. "How about we just watch Saix to see if he's a were-cat?" He suggested. "Its a full moon tonight, after all."

Xigbar nodded, turning back to Axel. "I think it's a good idea. Don't you, Axel?" He mocked. Axel growled, but upon seeing Roxas agree with Demyx, he had no choice but to go along. He nodded bitterly.

"Good! C'mon, I think I know where he is!" Demyx mewed happily, dashing off towards the lone window in the living room. Zexion followed silently behind him, with Axel and Roxas tagging along a little ways away. Xigbar started after them, but when he noticed that Luxord was still sitting in the same spot as before, stopped and went back to the other cat.

"What, you aren't gonna join our little detective group?" Xigbar asked, poking Luxord in the side with a paw.

The blond cat regarded his question for a brief moment, before settling for nodding. After a few tense moments, he spoke. "On one condition."

"Which is?"

Seeing that the group of cats were almost out of his line of sight, Luxord stood up and started to trot after them. "Apologize to Axel and the kitten once you've had your fun."

Xigbar followed him, letting out a groan. "Okay, fine. But you know I've always liked messing with that kid."

Luxord mewed in amusement, shaking his head. "I know, Xigbar. I know."

* * *

The group of cats had assembled around Saix, keeping themselves out of his sight (not that Saix would have noticed them anyways; he was too caught up in trying to figure out how to get the moon) while simultaneously keeping him in their sight. The six cats had all bunched themselves together off to the side, with Demyx at the front of the group.

They all remained eerily silent, each cat intent and focused on something: Demyx and Roxas on Saix, Luxord on the his own long, skinny tail, Zexion on the wall, and Xigbar on his itchy ear. Axel, however, had focused all of his energy on thinking about how ridiculous everyone was being, so when his thoughts finally started drifting to another subject, he was the first to speak up.

"This is pointless. He's just doing what he does every single night," Axel pointed out.

Demyx turned around, giving Axel a serious look that he had never seen the dirty blond cat sport before. "Shh!" He whispered harshly. "Were-cats have really good hearing," he warned.

"And they can _smell_ fear," Xigbar added darkly. Roxas mewed in fear (which really only made him more scared, once Xigbar's words set in) and cuddled closer to Axel.

Saix's ear twitched, sending the spies into a frenzy - save for Axel, who gave the others a fierce death glare. He kept his tail protectively wrapped around the blond kitten, who leaned into him, body rigid with fear. Much to their relief, Saix didn't come over to them – instead, he jumped out of the window and left the room.

It took a few moments for it to register in their collective brain that he had left. Once it did, Demyx led the group after Saix. They saw him exit out the back door and go outside, but Demyx started backing up nervously. "Eheh...Xiggy, wanna take the lead?" He asked, trying to keep his fear hidden. Xigbar snorted, but shook his head. He looked at Axel, who gave a low growl in response. Luxord sat in the back, hoping that he wouldn't notice him (and thankfully, he didn't) as Demyx tried to convince Zexion to lead.

Thankfully, he soon realized that Zexion's mind was off somewhere else, and gave up trying to convince anyone to go outside. He settled for sitting in front of the back door, the rest of the group watching for any sign of the potential were-cat.

That was when they heard it. A long, somber howl that could chill even the most courageous of cats to the bone. They all went into some form of panic; the older three merely jumping in fright and freezing, while the younger three yowled in fear. Roxas tried to bolt, but Axel lifted him up by his scruff before he could, leaving him to dangle uselessly in the air.

The first one to speak again was Demyx. "We all heard that, right?" The others nodded. Demyx mewed sadly, padding over to Axel and gently touching his shoulder with his tail. "I'm sorry, Axel...but we all heard it. The evidence is overwhelming. Your brother is a were-cat."

Axel put Roxas back on the floor, slumping as he did so. "I can't believe it..." He confessed. "My own brother is a were-cat."

"I'm sorry," Demyx whispered.

It was too much for Axel to handle at the moment. His were-cat of a brother would come back in any moment now, and he knew he couldn't be around when that happened. "I'm gonna go to sleep..." he muttered, an utterly pathetic sight as he slunk off. His shoulders still slumped, his ears were down, and his tail dragged useless against the floor.

As Xigbar watched him leave, he felt guilt start to bite at his insides. It was all just a harmless prank, but now he couldn't go back. Demyx's overactive imagination was in full control, and even if he told them that he lied nobody would believe him. Groaning, he resigned himself to the guilt and decided to play along for a little longer.

* * *

Fear. Pure, primal fear ran through Xion's veins, prompting her to run away as fast as she possibly could, yet it had frozen her in place. She struggled to move, to even twitch her tail slightly, but she couldn't. The only thing that she could focus on was her breathing.

The movie had long since been over, but she still couldn't move from her spot. Images of that scene where the werewolf ate the innocent kitty ran through her head over and over again, mixing and mingling with her own blurred memories of her mama and her siblings until a gruesome new story weaved through her mind, replaying over and over again.

She heard the other cats' mews, but they were nothing more than buzzing in the background. She was too-far off in her own little world of fear and fright and snapping teeth and barks and yowls and _bad_.

* * *

The group of cats soon developed a plan to catch Saix, were-cat form or not; one brave cat would go up to him and taunt him into a rage, then run straight back to where the others would be hiding. The others would ambush him, and the world would be safe from another were-cat.

Once their plan was formed, it was only a matter of deciding who would put their life on the line and go after Saix. Nobody spoke up, only increasing the tensed atmosphere.

Roxas looked around, realizing that nobody wanted to volunteer. If he volunteered and Saix caught him, he'd be were-cat food in a heartbeat. On the other paw, he was fast, and could probably outrun the cat. Besides, if he volunteered, they'd finally realize that he was more than just a wimpy kitten. He could be brave.

"I'll do it!" He announced, hopping up.

"Are you sure?" Xigbar asked, worry clear in his voice.

"Yeah, you're just a kitten. He'd gobble you up in an instant!" Demyx added.

"Now I want turkey," Zexion commented. Normally the cats would stare at him in confusion, but they were all too worried about Roxas to do so.

"Yeah," he assured them. "I'll be fine, promise!"

Luckily, Saix happened to choose that moment to come back inside, thankfully not in his were-cat form. As he sat in front of the back door, lazily grooming himself, Roxas's resolve hardened. "Alright," the kitten mewed, looking each member of the group in the eye, "wish me luck."

"Wait!" Xigbar meowed after him, but it fell on deaf ears.

Roxas's full attention was on Saix. As he approached him, he felt every single bit of courage he had worked up melt away, but he still had enough to continue. "U-um..."

Saix stopped to look at him. "Yes, kitten?" He asked, the slightest bit of a growl underlying the question.

"U-um...you dirty were-cat..." He whispered, remembering one of the -many- insults that Demyx had told the group during the construction of the plan.

"What?" He asked, anger mixed with confusion.

Roxas straightened up a bit, but still refused to look the blue cat in his eyes. "You heard me."

"What are you going on about?"

"Admit it. You just came back from gobbling up a bunch of poor, defenseless kitties."

"You're making no sense, kitten," Saix growled. "I don't eat cats."

"I make more sense than you."

They went back and forth like that for a little bit, Roxas hurling halfhearted insults at Saix, who reacted with confusion and a biting remark. Roxas knew he had to hurry it up, so he decided to go with a low blow, even if it meant Saix killing him over it.

"You know, were-cat, Axel likes me more."

That did the trick. The confusion left, leaving only unstoppable rage in its place. Saix puffed up and gave Roxas a withering glare. "WHAT did you say about my brother?" He asked, venom lacing his voice. Roxas stepped back slightly, but continued his attack.

"H-he does. He spends more time with me than he does with you. He cares about me more than he does you. Brothers or not, if it came between saving you and saving me, he'd pick me."

Roxas knew that he was going to die. He accepted that fact. Though he didn't realize just how much his words had hurt Saix, he did once he heard Saix's bloodthirsty yowl. It was full of pure hatred and rage towards the kitten, demanding his head in a catbowl. At the same time, he heard the raw pain and sadness and grief of being abandoned in it. His eyes widened as he realized that he had split open an already painful wound in the blue cat's heart, dousing it in salt and dirt until it screamed with pain.

He tried to run, but in one leap Saix had pinned him to the ground. "You little brat!" He spat, his widened pupils contracting to evil slits. "You're going to pay for that."

"No, no no!" The kitten wailed as loud as he possibly could, struggling to get free. If he was a little bigger, he would have been able to, but he was too tiny and thin. "Don't eat me, please! I'm all fluff and bones!"

* * *

Eventually Xaldin woke up, slowly blinking as his vision adjusted to the darkness. Once it did, he got up and stretched, taking in his surroundings. He heard a loud wail, but decided to ignore it. One of the kittens probably got scared or something. It was probably Roxas the Spineless Wonderkitten, considering Namine was snugly cuddled up between Larxene and Lexaeus (what an odd sight, he mused. Lexaeus and Larxene weren't really friends). As for the odd little black kitten, from what he could tell, she wasn't the type to get easily scared. He quickly scanned around the room for her, and found her frozen in place on the floor. Curiosity took over, and he hopped off of the couch and padded over to her.

The first thing he noticed how rigid she was. She was like a statue, and he could barely tell that she was breathing. "Xion?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

She didn't respond. He tried gently poking her with one of his massive paws, but she didn't react. Confused, he stepped in front of her and looked down at her face, trying to figure out what was wrong. Her eyes were wider than he thought was possible, glazed over with fear.

He started to feel worried. He gently poked her again, and again he didn't get response. "Xion," he repeated slightly louder. "Xion!"

Somehow, Xaldin managed to snap her out of her trance. She looked up at him, still retaining her fearful expression. "The dog's gonna get me..." She whispered, her voice deathly quiet and horse.

"What dog? The werewolf?" Xaldin asked.

Xion nodded slowly. "And its gonna find me and eat me because the other dog didn't get me last time because I ran too fast." Her mews came out panicked and frightened, and she mewed as quickly as she could, as if keeping the thoughts around too long would hurt her.

Xaldin knew better than to ask about what she was talking about; it would only bring up something that was clearly painful. So instead, he focused on trying to comfort her. "Don't worry. That werewolf isn't going to hurt you."

Xion mewed in fear. "But it will! It will because I lie and no matter how much I lie or boast or pretend to be tough it's tougher and it'll eat me."

Xaldin shook his head. "I won't let it eat you. If any dog or werewolf or anything comes near you I'll fight it. So you don't have to be afraid, little kitten."

A long silence followed, but her muscles grew less tense and she calmed down, sending a wave of relief through him. When she spoke again, she sounded hesitant and scared. "So...you won't let it eat me?"

"I won't, promise."

She stared at him for a while, her eyes wide with adoration and respect. "Thank you..." She mewed, true happiness and gratitude radiating throughout. "Thank you so much."

* * *

Axel hadn't even managed to fall asleep when he heard a wail – Roxas's wail. In an instant he was up and sprinting the the source of the wail as fast as he could go. Worry and panic surged through his body, urging him on.

He felt his heart stop when he saw Saix, his own brother, snarling and growling, ready to attack the poor scrap of fluff underneath his paws. He let his body run on pure instinct as he launched himself at his brother, knocking him over and letting Roxas scramble away. He didn't notice the group of cats nervously walking towards them, all looking some degree of guilty.

"Saix!" Axel yowled, glaring fiercely at his brother. "What's wrong with you! He's just a kitten!"

Rather than grow angry and start yowling like Axel expected, Saix's meow grew quiet and somber. "So...he was telling the truth." His tail dropped to the floor as the blue cat sat down so calmly that it unsettled Axel. They looked at each other, an even gold gaze meeting an acid green glare. "I see where I belong in your heart now, Axel."

"What are you talking about, Saix? I don't understand!"

Saix looked away. "Of course you don't..." He stood up, slowly shaking his head as he walked away.

"Wait, Saix!" Axel called out, but stopped when Saix looked back at him.

"If you want to talk, do it later. For now, go check on that kitten you adore so much." With that, he bounded off, leaving Axel speechless.

A wave of guilt washed over Axel as he watched his brother leave. The pieces slowly clicked into place in his mind, and the horrible realization of what Saix was talking about hit him in the face. He had to apologize, but for once he heeded his brother's advice and went over to check on Roxas. If he tried chasing after him, it would only end badly.

He found Roxas sitting with the rest of the 'detective group.' They all were gathered around Xigbar, and as he joined the group, Roxas whispered to him to sit down, so he did.

Xigbar shook his head sadly. "Sorry, everyone. I didn't know it would come to this, but it did." Murmurs of confusion rose up in the group, but he silenced them with a stern look. "Were-cats aren't real, and even if they were, Saix isn't one. I ended up causing a lot of trouble, and I'm sorry for all of this."

"Xigbar, apologizing? Who would have thought of it?" Luxord joked, but it did nothing to alleviate the somber atmosphere.

"Luxord, I'm trying to be serious," Xigbar snapped. He let out a deep breath, and his regretful tone returned. "We need to apologize him. Some of us more than others," both him and Axel looked down at the floor, "but we all need to."

After a few more tense moments of silence and regret, they all went their separate ways; the cheerful mood they all shared earlier gone.

* * *

Dedicated to all of my reviewers. :3

Also sad chapter is sad. but don't worry, the next chapter is where they all make up, so don't be sad! D: Catnip is not a sad fic, or at least I'm not planning for it to be.

Short AN is short. Sorry I didn't reply to any reviews. See you in two weeks from now! (Sorry again - I'll explain then! D: )


	16. Mending Wounds

Dedicated to all my Bros out there. :D Yes, you're all my bros. Even if you're a girl.

* * *

The stairs were big and scary. They towered over Namine's head, and even if she stood up on her hind legs, they were still at least twice her size. Larxene had offered a few times to take her up and show her the top floor of the house, but she really didn't want to at that point. She still needed to get used to the bottom floor!

Eventually Xion came up to her with a similar request; she wanted to go up the stairs and explore the second floor, but it would be boring if she went by herself. Namine was hesitant and a little bit scared, but agreed anyways.

"Now, we need to go get Roxas!" Xion mewed, a serious edge in her voice.

Namine blinked in confusion. "H-huh? Why?"

"Because he's our friend!" Xion explained happily, her thin black tail waving in the air. As an afterthought, she added, "besides, we all balance each other out!"

The blonde kitten blinked again, prompting Xion to explain further. "Well, it's like this. I'm the hot blooded, adventurous leader that takes our team on wild and crazy adventures! Roxas is the calmer, more level-headed middle cat of the group, while you're the nervous, easily-scared adorable cat of the group!" Her tail happily waved as she continued. "Without me, you two would never explore any new places. Without Roxas, I'd get both of us in messes way over our heads."

Namine mewed softly in surprise; she wasn't aware of the fact that Xion actually acknowledged her habit of jumping into any sort of mess without looking.

However, Xion didn't notice Namine's soft mew and continued. "And without you, it just wouldn't be fun!" She concluded, a soft purr rumbling in her chest. "Do ya get it now?"

Namine considered Xion's explanation for a moment. "I-I guess..."

"Good! Now, let's go find him!" The two kittens dashed through the house in search of their friend. It didn't take long to find him - As usual, they found him playing with Axel in the living room.

Xion knew Axel didn't like her. She didn't exactly understand why, but he did, and she at worst tolerated him. As for Namine, they were both fine with each other. Not friends in any sense of the word, but Axel never gave her as nearly as cold of a glare then the glares he directed at Xion.

The two cats happily batted a worn toy mouse back and forth, both diving for it like it was some sort of bomb that would explode if it was allowed to touch the ground. If Xion had been a little more observant, she would have noticed Axel glancing at her for a single moment before focusing an unnatural amount of attention onto the small mouse in front of him. Then again, Namine was the most observant of hte kittens and even she didn't notice the split-second change.

So they both padded closer to the two cats, interrupting their game. "Hey, Roxas," Xion mewed, "wanna come with Namine and me and see if we can get to the top of those things going up to the higher part of the house?" She knew better than to ask Axel; he would only glare at her until she left.

The two male cats stopped playing, both of them sitting down to look at the black kitten. "You mean stairs?" Axel asked, a small hint of distaste hidden behind his meow. Xion nodded.

"Yeah. Those things!"

"I-I think it'll b-be fun..." Namine added in, nodding slightly. "P-please?"

Roxas sat down, his tail thoughtfully flicking back and forth as he struggled to make a decision. "...okay." He finally mewed, standing up and padding over to the other two kittens. "Bye Axel! See you soon!" He waved the tip of his tail to the red cat before the trio of kittens left.

"Roxas, please don't..." Axel muttered, but the kitten was already out of earshot. He sat down, upset that yet again his best friend had been stolen away from him. It seemed like whenever they were finally doing something together, that little black half-pint would stroll in and steal him away.

But Axel quickly realized that moping around wouldn't do anything. If he wanted anything to change, he had to talk to the both of them. He also still needed to talk to Saix and apologize for what had happened...

"Hey...maybe I could talk to them both at the same time," he mewed to himself. The kittens had left, leaving him all alone to wonder about his thoughts. As he would later realize, that was actually a good thing.

For the moment though, he felt a little lonely, and he wanted his friend back.

* * *

The three kittens sat at the bottom of the stairs, each craning their necks in an attempt to see the top of the stairs. Each step towered over their heads to the point that it felt like they'd be in an entirely new land if they managed to get to the top.

"Are y-you sure we s-should do t-this?" Namine asked, her blue eyes filled with worry and fear.

As for Xion, her eyes were filled with excitement at the prospect of exploring a new place. "Sure I'm sure!"

Roxas, however, was off in his own little world. "I hope Axel's not mad..." He muttered quietly enough as to not be heard by the others.

Xion bounced over to the spacey kitten. "Ready, Roxas?" She glanced over at Namine. "Ready, Namine?"

Roxas snapped back into reality, and reluctantly the other two agreed. Xion, knowing that they were still scared, took the lead. She had to show them that it wasn't that scary – even if she was a tiny bit nervous herself.

She padded over to the step and crouched down, her tail whipping from side to side in anticipation. She leaped, a loud yowl escaping from her throat as she sailed through the air. She wasn't entirely sure why she yowled, but it didn't hurt her chances of landing on the other side or anything.

All four of her paws landed safely on the step. The black kitten whipped around, puffing her chest out in pride. "See?" She boasted. "It's easy!"

The two blond kittens on the floor exchanged glances. "W-who should go n-now?" Namine asked, shaking her head softly and hoping that Roxas understood that what she really meant was 'please go next.'

Somehow, he did. With a deep breath, he nodded. "I'll go next." A determined fire sparked to life in his eyes, and he approached the stairs with his head and tail held high, radiating more courage than Xion had ever seen come out of the blond kitten. He copied Xion's stance; crouched down with his tail whipping from side to side. With one last deep breath, he leaped towards the step towering above him, safely landing in the middle.

"Good job!" Xion mewed happily, playfully headbutting him. "Didn't think you'd actually do it!"

Roxas mewed sadly. "I'm not really that much of a wimp, am I?"

Rather than upset him even more, Xion decided against telling him about the nickname some of the older cats had give him. "No, you're not. I'm just teasing you." He didn't need to know that he was secretly the Spineless Wonderkitten.

He nodded, relieved. "Good."

Meanwhile, Namine was still on the floor, trying to build up the courage she needed to be able to jump up the step. She crouched, looked at the step towering over her, gave up, and tried again. She repeated that cycle throughout their entire conversation until she finally steeled herself.

"I can do it...I-I can do it." She murmured, crouching down again. Closing her eyes, she made the leap, not daring to open them until she felt the wood beneath her paws.

"I...did it?" She asked, looking at the stair below her in disbelief. As the realization dawned on her, her blue eyes lit up with joy. "I did it!" She mewed happily, a jumping in sheer joy. "I did it, g-guys! I actually d-did it!"

Both kittens congratulated Namine on her achievement. Before long, however, they all turned their sights to the endless stairs stretching above them. Both blond kittens shrunk back slightly at the sight. Xion, noticing their discomfort, tried to give them a little bit of encouragement.

"Don't worry! The first step is always the hardest. We can do this!" With a short nod, she hopped up to the next step. At least for her, it _was_ much easier than jumping up to the first one.

It was a slow journey, as Xion had to wait for Roxas and Namine to jump up to the next step before moving higher. She made sure never to go two steps higher than the others; in case something happened, she wanted to be there to help them.

Luckily, nothing bad happened, and the three safely reached the top of the stairs. After jumping up the last step, the three kittens cheered for their victory.

"We did it! We a-actually did it!" Namine mewed happily, a loud purr reverberating in her chest that soon spread to the others'.

"I didn't think we would, actually..." Roxas mewed, looking away. "I thought we'd give up and go back."

"But we didn't, and that's what counts!" Xion puffed out her chest proudly, purring even louder than the other two. "Now, how about we go exploring?"

"Okay!" Fueled by the confidence of their new victory, the blond kittens nodded, and the three kittens soon set off to explore their new surroundings.

As it turned out, the top floor was pretty much the same as the bottom floor. There were a few spare rooms, a bathroom, a bedroom, but oddly enough, no kitchen. Regardless, they kept exploring the upper floor.

They walked through a hall, and as they passed by a window, Roxas stopped. The other two kittens stopped as well to watch him in confusion.

A strange look glazed over his face, making his whiskers twitch with mischievous excitement. "Wait here." He mewed, dashing back to the window and clumsily hopping onto the small table directly below it. He craned his neck to try to see if there was enough room for him to fit on the windowsill, but there wasn't, so he settled for standing up on the table and resting his paws on the windowsill. They didn't expect him to be tall enough to be able to see out of the window, but by some miracle of nature he was.

Roxas looked back at the two kittens on the floor, waving at them with his tail. "You have to see this! It's amazing!"

Xion and Namine both trotted over to the table and scrabbled up to the top, joining Roxas in front of the window.

He was right. The sight was truly beautiful; from so high up, the people on the streets looked like little bugs crawling along the sidewalk. Their large front yard that seemed to go on forever from the ground was a small patch of grass in an even bigger yard stretching across the entire street.

"It's amazing..." Namine's sky blue eyes sparkled with a light that Xion had never seen in them before. Sure, it was a breathtaking sight, but to Namine it was as if it was something a little more beautiful.

"Mhm. It is..." Xion agreed, trailing off into a confortable silence.

They continued to watch the street for a while after, until the flow of ant-people slowed to a small trickle and the sun started to set. The slowed activity brought the three out of their trance-like state, but it didn't fully break until Namine's tummy growled loudly.

She dropped back down, looking away in embarrassment. "I'm g-gonna go get some f-food, okay?" She mewed, jumping off the table and less and not-so-gracefully landing on the floor.

"Wait up!" Xion called out, hopping off of the table and landing next to Namine, who was still trying to regain her balance. The black kitten glanced up to her friend still on the table. "Roxas, are you coming?"

"I'll catch up in a minute!" He mewed, still on the table. Namine sat down, preparing to wait for him, but Xion nudged her in the side.

"It'll be okay. He'll catch up."

Namine looked slightly worried, but agreed anyways. "If you say so..."

* * *

Roxas kept looking out the window long after he stopped hearing Xion and Namine's mews. He had gotten lost deep in thought, and he wasn't able to pull himself out.

For some reason, he couldn't shake the odd feeling in his tummy. It wasn't hunger at all; it was...well, it made him uneasy and antsy, like he needed to do something. He just didn't know what he was supposed to do.

The feeling only intensified when Axel jumped up onto the table with him. Unlike his usual, happy self, Axel seemed kind of upset, with his tail lowered and a faraway look in his eyes. "Hey, Roxas, you mind coming with me?"

That finally snapped Roxas out of his trance. "Oh, sure." He mewed, following the red cat off of the table and a little ways down the hall.

He didn't expect to see Saix calmly sitting in the middle of the floor, watching them both with an intense gaze. The uneasy feeling grew in his tummy.

Axel noticed Roxas's anxiety. The red cat sat down next to his brother, waving Roxas over with his tail. "It'll be okay. C'mon."

"What's going on?" Roxas asked, nervously keeping one eye on Saix at all times. Thankfully, the blue cat made no move to attack him.

"We all need to talk," Axel began. "Roxas, you're my best friend, and Saix, you're my brother."

They were all silent for a moment. "...I know that?" Roxas asked, unsure of what Axel's meaning. Why was he just stating the obvious?

"Let him talk," Saix commanded, fixing Roxas with a harsh glare. Roxas made sure to stay quiet after that.

"As I was saying, I treasure you two more than anything," he admitted, shaking his head. "But its hard dividing my time between the both of you." His tail lazily snaked an aimless path along the carpet. "Saix, I understand that you're upset, but how do you think I've felt ever since we came here? You've always had other friends – if you weren't talking to Xemnas, you were talking to Xaldin or Lexaeus or Vexen. I've never really gotten along with the others."

Saix shook his head. "But you're my blood brother. You've always been my family, and I don't want to lose you some random little kitten."

Roxas shifted uncomfortably. They were talking about him now, but he was too scared to speak up and defend himself if he needed to.

Axel snorted. "I know how you feel now, trust me." He looked down at Roxas. "And now, it feels like that black kitten keeps trying to steal you away from me. She's your friend as well, I get that, but you spend so much time with her and Namine."

Roxas wondered why he didn't seem to care about him spending time with Namine so much. Maybe it was because she was so innocent and fragile; besides, it wasn't like she was even courageous enough to talk to him when Axel was around.

"So...we have to figure this out somehow. Thing is, I don't know what we should do..." Axel confessed. "All I can say is...well, I'm sorry."

Finally, Roxas found the courage to speak up. "Axel, don't be sorry!" He mewed, standing up. "I've never seen it as a big deal, to be honest. You, Xion, Namine...even Larxene and Demyx and Xigbar and everyone else! I care about everyone, even if they don't like me much. Every single cat here is part of my family."

"But there are some you care about more than others." Saix pointed out.

Roxas nodded. "True, but still. More than one cat," he paused, quickly adding, "or more than one human can be in your heart! You don't have to have just one."

Axel opened his mouth, but Roxas kept on going. "Axel, you're my first friend, and you'll always be my best friend. But Xion and Namine are my best friends, too. All three of you mean a lot to me, and all in your own special ways."

Axel stayed silent for a moment, but thankfully it soon clicked for him, and his face lit up. "I think..." he began, green eyes darting between Saix and Roxas, "I get it!"

"Good!" Roxas mewed happily. "You finally understand!"

"Kitten," Saix said, turning his golden gaze to Roxas, "I get what you mean as well. You may be young and spineless and not all that bright, but you have your insightful moments."

"Thanks?" Roxas asked, unsure if he should take the blue cat's words as a compliment or not. It sounded like an insult, but at the same time he felt a sense of gratitude come from Saix.

In a flash, Axel's lighthearted mood was gone, replaced -yet again- by a serious tone. "Just promise me one thing."

"Hmm?" Saix hummed, watching him curiously.

"No matter what, you two will always be special to me."

Axel didn't need to explain any further. "You'll always be one of my best friends," Roxas mewed happily. "Don't worry."

"And you'll always be my brother," Saix meowed, nodding. "No matter what."

A loud purr started in Axel's chest, and soon spread like wildfire to the other two. "Good."

The uneasy feeling Roxas had been feeling all day vanished into the air like a wisp of smoke, evaporating into the air and lifting away some of the tenseness he felt around Saix.

Maybe him and Saix could be friends, too.

* * *

Hey hey hey, remember last chapter? Well, here's the happy ending. EVERYTHING IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD AGAIN :D

Expect a very long, very, VERY, VERY, ramble-y AN today. Also, thanks to DM-sama reviewing, I remembered that this week I need to update. Until the end of school (only four more weeks!) I'll be updated once every other week. Sorry guys! I really am, but once summer comes, expect the schedule to return to normal!

Basically, I've been really busy lately. First it was testing, and then choir comps, then time with friends, then homework and everything is just speeding by so fast it's driving me nuts. I have choir auditions tomorrow (wish me luck! D: I'll need it and yes I'm in the high choir but I'm terrified of getting demoted to the low choir! D: ) and I might not have time to update so why not today! Oh yeah then this weekend I'll be in San Diego with my French club doing...uhh stuff. And I'll wear a pretty sundress and a nice hat and I will have fun at the beach and the gardens and a fancy restaurant with my awesome nerdy buddies. 8D Then there's some more stuff going on basically until the very end of the year.

It really sucks having two separate groups of friends. On one hand, I have my loser otaku geek friends, who are the ones I hang out with a lot. Thing is, though, while I'm STRAIGHT A SUPAH HONORS VALEDICTORIAN student and all that jazz, they're...well, they're failures. ._. No offense I love them and all but they have C's and D's and F's on a constant basis.

Then I have my awesome nerdy friends, who I don't hang out with as much. While they're not really into anime and stuff, they're into video games and I actually HAVE classes with them so yay :D Probably next year when I switch to all honors and AP classes I'll only see my awesome nerdy friends at school. Still, I like both groups a lot, but they don't like each other.

Makes my birthday plans for next year suck though. -_-; I want to go to Disneyland and maybe spend the weekend there with my friends, but I can't invite both groups. So I'll have to settle on inviting people from one group and hope they love me eough to be stuck with me at Disneyland. D:

By the way, did you know that apparently during Halloween at Disneyland KH characters are walking around? My friend told me that, and if its true, I AM SO GOING. :D Srsly, if I get to see some dood PAID to dress up like Roxas he is getting the biggest hug EVAR and I am demanding pictures and an autograph and yessssss. [/fangirl]

See? Told you it'd be long and ramble-y. I'd go on, but I'll stop now. See all of you soon! ^^


	17. Cheesy Villains and Noble Heroes

Dedicated to everyone willing to put up with this weird schedule I have adopted. I swear, only a few more weeks! D8

* * *

"Ventuuuussss," Vanitas called out, searching for his favorite cat to annoy. Unlike that boring Aqua or that idiot Terra, Ven actually got riled up at his insults. Though Riku was the most fun to bother, and the best part? He never attacked Vanitas; he would just sit there and sigh while he buzzed around him like a hissing gnat.

Too bad Riku wasn't there. Almost every day he was off at some place called school, and wherever that was, Vanitas didn't know how to get there. All he knew was that Riku called it boring and it kept Vanitas from acting out his wonderful schemes.

...at that point, he realized that his ham to evil ratio had gone too deep into ham territory, so instead he sat down and waited patiently, his golden eyes glimmering with excitement. Sure enough, just a few moments later, he heard Ven's anxious meow from inside Riku's bedroom.

"Vanitas, go away! You're just going to attack me if I come out!" Vanitas snorted in amusement. Sometimes, Ven could be so weird. Didn't he realize that just by telling him to go away, he was revealing his hiding place?

Apparently not, though it did make the blond kitten easy to trick. He may be the hero, but he wasn't exactly the brightest scrap of fur. "Alright, Ventus, whatever you say," he purred, walking away. He stopped and sat down for a few moments, waiting for his trick to sink in.

The sound of small paws padding heavily on the carpet drew his attention, making his ears perk up. With a small purr of amusement, he set about his evil plan.

His footsteps were light against the carpet; almost silent, but only the sharpest of ears would be able to pick up the sound. If Ven was listening for him, he would've been able to hear him, but Vanitas was positive that he was oblivious.

When he stopped in front of Riku's bedroom door, Vanitas encountered a problem. The door was open, but by only a crack that was way too small for him to fit through. If he tried to open it carefully, the door would creak, and Ven would hear him.

He paced back and forth, his steps muffled by the thick carpet, trying to figure out a solution. Using another entrance wouldn't work, since that was the only way into Riku's room from inside (there was always the window, but he couldn't get outside easily).

It was hopeless. Since he couldn't sneak in, he decided to milk the opportunity for all it was worth and burst into the room like the cheesy villain he wouldn't admit that he was.

He took several steps back, making sure that he would have enough space to execute his grand entrance. He took a deep breath, then barreled towards the door as fast as he could possibly go.

He ran head-first into the door, and somehow his tiny frame managed to fling it wide open. A dull throb rose in his head as a loud, war-ready yowl tore from his throat, but he ignored both in favor of glancing around for Ven.

The kitten was sitting on top of a chair, watching him in confusion and mild annoyance. Vanitas tried to turn towards him, but he was unable to stop himself and ended up running straight into the bed frame.

Vanitas fell onto his back with his legs in the air, legs twitching like a cockroach. Stars danced in front of his eyes as pain sang throughout his body. He had felt much worse due to his scheming, but the pain was still there.

He was too wrapped up in watching the stars twirl in front of his eyes to notice Ven walk over to him. "Umm...are you okay, Vanitas?" He mewed.

Somehow Ven's mew managed to snap him out of his trance. He hopped up, fur bristling with anticipation. "Am I okay?" He purred. "Of course I'm okay, _Ventus_." He stared at the blond kitten with a delighted sparkle in his eyes that was clearly fake, unnerving the blond kitten and forcing him to back away.

"You're just going to attack me again, aren't you?" He mewed, giving the black kitten a half-hearted glare. "I don't wanna keep fighting." Aww, how sweet. His tone was so sincere.

"Why not?" Vantas asked, widening his eyes in a vicious mock of Ven's constant innocent expression. "It's fun!" He added, pawing at the ground in a gesture of mock-innocence.

Ven shook his head. "No, it's not. It's not good!"

"Really? Then why do you attack me whenever I say anything bad about Aqua or Terra?" Vanitas asked, lazily walking circles around Ven. Guilt-tripping the blond kitten was always so much fun, even if there was a tiny, painful prick in his heart whenever he did it.

Ven stared down at the floor, and Vanitas watched in satisfaction as his plan worked. Ven's shoulders slumped down as the guilt start to infest him. "Well...I..." He trailed off.

Vanitas purred, gently flicking the blond kitten's nose with his tail. "Exactly. You're not so innocent now, are you?" He knew he had strayed from cheesy villain territory straight into actual supervillain, evil mastermind territory, but he welcomed the change.

Ven stayed silent and continued to stare down at his paws as Vanitas continued. "You always say that you're so innocent, and that you never do anything wrong." Vanitas growled. "But you're the one always attacking me. You're the one always starting the fights. Aqua and Terra hate me," he paused, realized that his statement was wrong. "Well, Aqua hates me. Terra's too stupid to hate anything," he corrected himself, "but still. It's your fault I have no friends."

He had managed to guilt Ven into silence. Proud of his accomplishment, he purred in delight, but his muscles still ached to fight. The villain might tell off the hero, but at the point the kittens were currently at the hero was supposed to rise up and fight the villain with a cheesy speech about friendship or family or barf.

But Ven didn't rise up and start spewing cheesy things; he sat there with his head down. Vanitas winced at the sight. He wasn't supposed to do that! They had roles that they both were supposed to follow!

The painful sensation pricked at Vanitas's heart again. He growled, and after a few moments, realized that Ven wouldn't pull himself out of this sudden bout of depression by himself.

He trotted closer to the blond kitten and plopped down next to him. "Hey..." he mewed quietly, looking away. "Cheer up."

They sat together in silence after Vanitas lost the very loose grasp he had on what he was going to say to try to cheer Ven up. The villain wasn't supposed to console the hero, after all!

As the silence quickly delved into an awkward, uneasy territory (at least for Vanitas), Vanitas felt the need to just leave Ven there to wallow in misery. He would have too, if it wasn't for the strange feeling intensifying when he attempted to get up.

Thankfully, Ven finally decided to speak just before Vanitas died from boredom. "...you're right..." He finally raised his head and stared straight at the black kitten. It was so full of genuine sadness and remorse that Vanitas winced. The prickling in his heart grew to a stab. "I never realized what I've been doing to you, Vanitas. I'm sorry..."

Vanitas swallowed the last of his pride. "Don't be..." he growled, the sincere words feeling so unnatural as they came out of his mouth. "I was just messing with you, furbrain."

The blond kitten's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"You heard me," Vanitas snapped. "I say all that stuff on purpose to make you attack me," he explained, shaking his head.

Ven's expression changed again; this time to one of confusion. "Why not just attack me yourself?" He asked, which made Vanitas wonder why they were sitting there, calmly discussing about Vanitas's motives for attacking Ventus. He should be mad or something, right? But strangely the blond kitten didn't care at all.

"Last time I did that, you whined and cried like a newborn," Vanitas replied, a harsh edge to his mew.

Ven was silent for a moment, and the only sound in the room were their uneven breaths. Soon enough, he found whatever word he was searching for and began. "But the part about Aqua and Terra hating you...that is true..." He mewed sadly.

Vanitas flicked his tail in indifference. "Nah, not really. They just don't like me much because I'm the annoying villain."

That earned him a confused glance from the blond kitten. Typical. With a small groan, he realized that he had to explain their roles as well.

...if Vanitas had realized at that moment that he was finally accepting his status as a cheesy villain who would fit right into a bad superhero movie, he would have bit his own tail.

But he didn't. "Don't you get it, Ventus? You and Aqua and Terra – you're the heroes. The ones who stand for truth and justice and all that boring stuff. I'm the cheesy, over-dramatic villain who always tries to ruin your day. The cheesy villain gives a mean speech to the hero to make him depressed, but then he gets mad and fights back. That's what you were supposed to do."

Ven nodded, taking in all of the information he was presented with. Vanitas watched him impatiently, and Ven glanced warily in response. "So...we _have_ to fight?" Vanitas nodded. "Why?"

Before he could control what was happening, a confused mew came out of Vanitas's throat. "Huh?"

"Why do we have to fight?"

He had never considered that before. Regardless, an answer quickly came to him. "...because we're supposed to? Besides, its fun."

Ven glanced away, shifting uncomfortably. "Um... sure, whatever you say..." He trailed off, stopping to quickly groom the stubborn piece of fur that always stuck up on top of his head. When it wouldn't submit, he gave up and turned his attention back to Vanitas. "...so, since I'm the hero and you're the villain and we're next to each other, we're supposed to fight, right?"

Finally! He finally got it! Overcome with joy, Vanitas hopped up and dived straight into his defensive position. "Bring it on, _hero_." He spat, hissing gleefully.

As Ven launched himself at him, and as they rolled around the floor, a mess of flailing limbs and yowls, the painful sensation that had been bothering Vanitas disappeared, leaving Vanitas feel lighter than before.

* * *

I'm sorry for the weird schedule! Just a bit longer! D8 Plus, chapter 25 is a very special surprise, but it's a secret~

Anyways, have another Vanitas chapter. Oooh, that cat is so much fun to write! :D I love him...well, not in canon, but kitten!Vanitas is a pretty cool dood.

Uh, well, I guess that's it for now. My comp's being slow, so I want to hurry this up before it freezes again. See you all soon!


	18. The Power of Science and Miracles

Dedicated to all of my readers. Thank you for sticking with me for so long.

* * *

Whenever Vexen got angry or irritated, there was the slightest change to his meow that only the sharpest of ears could pick up. Unfortunately for Xaldin, he had sharp ears and he had long since learned what that Vexen's angry meow sounded like.

As kittens, it had only been one very specific tone. When his rivalry with Marluxia was born, that angry tone soon branched off into two similar yet distinct tones. The one he normally used didn't change much, but whenever he spoke with Marluxia, the tone grew higher-pitched and harsher.

Whenever Vexen used the higher-pitched tone, Xaldin knew that something was about to happen that he did _not _want to be part of. So when the angry, slightly shrill meow reached his half-asleep ears, he forced himself to open a bleary eye in the direction of the sound.

Like he had expected, Vexen and Marluxia were arguing again. His brain was too tired to comprehend what they were saying, but regardless he got up and left the room to find a safer sleeping spot.

Before long, he knew that they were going to have one of their 'contests' to see who was the better cat. And when they did, he wanted to be far, far, _far_ away from that mess.

* * *

Finally, a new discovery! One that Marluxia would never find a way to upstage! After years of fighting and arguing to try to win the overall title of best cat in the house, he had finally found something that Marluxia would have to succumb to. There was no way that anyone would ever doubt Vexen's title of best cat in the house after they saw this.

Though, before he could re-claim his title, he had to show his new discovery to Marluxia first. As he led the pink cat down the hall, the excitement that he had been suppressing all day finally broke through his barrier. He held his head high, and behind him his tail waved in the air like a victory flag. He heard Marluxia choke down an amused snort, but he was too wrapped up in his accomplishment to care.

They passed by a few other cats in the hall, who simply shook their heads and continued on. They were all too used to the two cat's competitions to care enough to ask anymore.

"Vexen, would you mind telling me where exactly you're taking me?" Marluxia asked, a bored tone overtaking me meow.

Vexen purred in response, tinged with the crazed giddiness he felt whenever he found something new. It wasn't as severe as the euphoria he felt whenever he was out in the snow, but it was more intense than the rush he felt on catnip. "Haven't I told you that it's a surprise?" He asked. "Or is your brain to full of fluff to remember?"

Marluxia growled softly, but Vexen decided not to respond. Unlike Marluxia, he was above immature fights, especially when he had something much bigger in store for the pink cat.

"At least tell me if we're almost there..." Marluxia grumbled from behind. While Vexen would have liked to drag the trip on for a bit longer just to aggravate him, he didn't. He wanted to get this done as soon as possible.

Before long they reached the girl's bedroom door. Vexen stopped and sat down, waiting for Marluxia to catch up. When he did, his blue eyes darted between Vexen and the door for several moments. "...your surprise for me is in _Kairi's room?_" He asked, barely suppressing a snort of laughter. "I spend almost all of my time in here! What could you possibly have in here that I don't already know about?"

Vexen purred in amusement. Oh, he would find out soon enough. "Be patient for once in your life, Marluxia. You'll see." He pushed the door open and the two walked inside.

While her room was dark, Vexen's eyes were powerful enough to be able to see perfectly fine. He jumped onto the bed and over to the windowsill, patiently waiting for Marluxia to join him. "Now," Vexen began, "observe the room. Right now, its darker than the rest of the house, right?"

Marluxia shifted, unsure if he should reply. When Vexen stared at him expectantly, he realized that yes, he was supposed to reply. "Yes...?"

"And normally, when its dark like this, only the humans can fix it, correct?"

"What are you trying to say?" Marluxia snapped, his fur bristling with impatience.

Vexen shook his head. "That's one thing you have in common with your sister – incredibly short tempers. But if you want me to get to the point, I will."

"Then do it already."

Vexen purred in amusement. Marluxia clearly knew that he was going to get upstaged, and badly. "I have learned how to let light come into the room."

Marluxia snorted in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? There's no possible way you could have figured out-"

Vexen, taking Marluxlia's soon to be rant as a cue to unveil his surprise, grabbed the string dangling down from the top of the blinds and yanked it with all of his strength, lifting the blinds and bathing the room in broad daylight.

Marluxia stood still, too shocked to move. His jaw flapped uselessly as he tried to speak, but nothing came out. Vexen purred in triumph – this and been the first time he had ever been able to render the pink cat speechless. He would finally win, after all this time!

While Vexen basked in his victory, Marluxia regained his composure. When Vexen finally returned from his own little victory world, he watched Marluxia calmly groom his fluffy pink tail.

"You're...not amazed?" Vexen asked, heart thumping in his chest. Why wasn't Marluxia utterly amazed? Why wasn't he finally acknowledging that he had been defeated? Why wasn't he worshiping the very ground Vexen walked on yet?

...was his mind simply too feeble to comprehend the epic discovery Vexen had found?

Marluxia looked at him passively before going back to grooming. Vexen's fur bristled, and a low growl escaped his throat.

"Answer me!" He growled in annoyance. "Aren't you utterly amazed?"

Yet again, Marluxia watched him passively. After a short silence, the pink cat finally responded. "Not anymore."

"W-what!" Vexen sputtered. "Why not!"

Marluxia shook his head, an amused purr faintly rumbling in his chest. "Don't you understand?" He meowed. "Humans can do that too, so you probably just learned how to do it from one of them. It can't be that difficult."

Every single piece of fur on Vexen's body stood on end in rage. How could Marluxia brush off his amazing discovery so easily! He was...he was so...so rude! And obnoxious too!

After the initial wave of rage passed, Vexen managed to sit back down. "I'd like to see you try it." He spat, giving the fiercest glare he had ever given to the pink cat, who simply lifted his nose into the air and strolled over to the blinds.

"Drop the blinds," Vexen commanded. "Try to plunge the room back into darkness."

Marluxia snorted. "Couldn't be that hard, could it?"

A little bit of Vexen's wounded pride healed at the sight of Marluxia fumbling around with the blinds. First he tried snagging the blinds gathered at the top and pulling them down with his claws (it didn't work, but it was _hilarious_ to watch).

Before long, Marluxia tried using the string that hung down from the top of the blinds. He batted it around, tugged on it, bit it and abused it every way he could, but it simply wouldn't budge for him. More than once Vexen had to try to hold down a purr of laughter, and more than once he failed, earning a well-deserved glare from the pink cat.

As the day more on and Marluxia grew more frantic, Vexen was perfectly content with laying on the bed and watching the other cat's miserable attempts, occasionally offering a biting remark to rile his fur up even more.

Eventually it got to a point where Marluxia simply gave up. With a loud snort, he flopped down on the windowsill. "Fine." He huffed. "You win. I can't do it."

Pride blossomed inside of Vexen's chest. He strolled over to the pink cat and sat down right in front of him, looking straight into his annoyed green eyes. "So, do you admit I win?"

Marluxia nodded bitterly. "You win, Vexen...for now."

While Vexen would have liked Marluxia to admit that he was the best cat in the house paws-down, for now, that was good enough.

* * *

I'm so sorry about not updating last week! D: But, I do have good news; Catnip will go back to its regular schedule. Expect an update every Tuesday! :D And with a little...encouragement, I might even update twice in a week. ;3

Still, thank you for staying with me. All of you. And I'm sorry for that stupid update schedule. But lemme tell you this; Chapter 25 will be, without a doubt, the LONGEST chapter in this entire fic. You'll be in for a wild ride for that chapter. You should get excited. Seriously. ^^


	19. Bonded

To say that Lexaeus was a dumb cat was a flat out lie. He was also a modest cat, and while it was probably true that he was one of the smartest cats in the house, he'd never go around bragging about it. Many concepts that the other cats simply didn't understand (like Vexen and those simple blinds) he quickly and easily grasped.

However, he wasn't exactly the best at understanding emotional bonds. While he could still grasp their basic concept, the underlying reasons were lost on him.

The most confusing bond to him was the one between Larxene and Namine. Ever since the kitten arrived at the house, Larxene seemed to have adopted a motherly attitude – along with practically adopting the frightened scrap of a kitten.

It was odd, seeing such a haughty, downright nasty cat act so sweet and doting. She adored her brother to death, and yet she didn't even treat _him_ with the same tenderness she showered onto the kitten.

No matter how much he thought about it, he simply couldn't fully understand Larxene's reasoning behind caring for Namine. So, rather than sit around and attempt to figure out a problem he clearly couldn't, he decided to get a little closer to both cats and observe them until he did figure it out. He was a cat of science, after all.

And that's how Lexaeus ended up becoming part of their 'family.' As he tried to drift off into slumber, he found himself thinking about what had led to his so called 'family.'

It had been extremely awkward at first. Larxene was wary of his actions, and extremely untrusting. She kept Namine close to her sides at all times, keeping Lexaeus safely away with a low growl or a baring of her sharp teeth. The kitten herself was scared to death of him, and would cower by her side at all times. Eventually, and he wasn't quite sure why or what sparked the idea in her little head, she had started to warm up to him.

Her signs of trust started out simple; at first, she would steal glances at him, keeping them for a moment longer than before, and her gaze would only waver slightly if he looked at her. Then, she started actually speaking to him – granted, her stutter was so heavy and she went back on her mews so often he was barely able to make out anything she said, but it was a step in the right direction.

The stutter didn't fade away – to be honest, her stutter would probably never fully go away – but after a little time it dulled to the point that he could understand her.

At that point, Larxene started showing signs of warming up to Lexaeus as well. Her usual cold snap defrosted to a much cooler attitude, to the point that she wasn't insulting him with every meow. (He was extremely grateful for that.)

After a few random conversations sprouted from encountering each other in the hallway, and combined with a few fun games of 'attack the toy mouse until we bat it too far away and lose it,' Larxene seemed to become much friendlier.

One day, much to his surprise, he found the blonde she-cat looking for him. When he asked why, she revealed that she simply wanted his company – she didn't want a favor, just a companion.

"_Larxene," he said, trying his best to keep his tone calm and concentrated. He wasn't a cat of many mews, but when he did speak, he tried to put as many emotions and hidden messages that someone else could pick up on as possible. "Why are you seeking my company?"_

_They both knew that she could easily go find another cat, one that she was closer to or one that she liked more; like her brother. Why wasn't she with him if she wanted company?_

"_It's not like I want to be around my brother all the time," she said, snorting. "He gets annoying. Fast." She glanced up at him, green eyes sparking with undercurrents of fierce electricity that silently threatened to zap him if he should make one wrong pawstep._

_She seemed to pick up on his silent question, inquiring about Namine. "And Nami's off playing with the other kittens. I don't need to watch her every single second of the day, you know."_

_He watched her, glad for the explanation but still waiting for her answer. She caught on, and the vast amounts of strength and confidence she usually held herself with wavered for a brief moment. "...so I came to you."_

"_So I'm your backup plan." He stated, a small, amused purr rumbling in his chest._

_She glared at him, but with a joking glint in her eyes. "You should take it as a compliment," she teased back, but she quickly became serious. "You know, you are a pretty cool cat..." She trailed off, glancing away. Lexaeus continued to watch her, gently urging her to continue._

"_...and I do enjoy your company." She finished quietly, her tail twitching in mild embarrassment._

_Lexaeus could only purr louder, amused and actually happy. Larxene may have a sharp, vicious edge to her, but it only protected the kind, caring heart she had inside that she showed so freely to Namine._

"_And I enjoy your company as well." He meowed back._

The rust-colored cat awoke from his dream-memory, slowly blinking his mind back into working properly. He yawned and rolled over, deciding that another few hours of sleep sounded nice. He curled his tail closer to himself, and was about to close his eyes again when he saw a familiar pale-blonde pelt making its way towards him.

"Hello, Namine," he greeted her warmly, trying to cloak the thick sleep in his meow, His nap could wait until later.

The little kitten watched him with wide, crystal clear blue eyes that showed every single emotion she felt in them, like polished glass. Hesitance flashed past, then regret as she lowered her tail and backed away. "U-um...sorry for w-waking you up...I-I'll leave and let y-you sleep, if you want..."

Lexaeus purred in amusement. She was so fragile, so easily sacred, but most of all she was so eager to please, as if one wrong mew or one wrong action would kill her. Maybe she had some past trauma that caused it...

Or maybe it was just her personality. After all, she was still fairly new, and she was nothing more than a tiny kitten in a house full of big, scary adult cats.

"No, it's fine." He told her, making sure to keep his voice calm and reassuring, like a mother's tongue rasping over a startled kitten's head. "You can stay."

The tension in her body melted away, leaving her slightly more relaxed than before. She sat down near him and fidgeted with her paws that were still too big for her small body.

"Why did you come find me?" He asked, gently prompting her into answering. Too harsh, and she'd get scared – a lesson he learned the hard way.

"I felt lonely," she mewed quietly, starting at her paws. "So I l-looked for you, and n-now I found you." She seemed to brighten up at the end, watching him with a shy, sheltered happiness.

He found it interesting. She did this often; looking for other cats to keep her company when she was lonely. The few times she had found him she usually blurted out that he wasn't the first cat she had looked for. This time, though, she didn't.

"You looked for me first?" He asked.

With a small squeak that was a mixture of fear and surprise, she nodded. "I-I'm sorry..."

"It's not a problem. I was just surprised," he purred in amusement. She looked at him, confusion glazing over her eyes, but it faded back into happiness as a small purr rumbled in her chest, dainty and fragile just like her.

They settled into a comfortable silence before long. Namine scrambled up into the window to sunbathe, while Lexaeus stood nearby, keeping an eye on any passing cats. He stood perfectly still and in place, a technique he had decided to master for absolutely no good reason. He didn't know it back then, but now it kind of served a purpose – he now stood as the kitten's guardian, watching over her like a statue would its castle.

However, no castle is ever guarded by just one statue. Larxene walked by, and decided to join Lexaeus in his silent watch, standing nearby him and trying her best to copy his lack-of movement. She wasn't used to it like he was, and her tail frequently twitched – whether it was from boredom, irritation, or the lack of movement, though, he couldn't tell.

Several cats passed by them, but none of them ever gave the two a passing glance. They simply continued on, heading off to wherever they wanted to go to.

That is, until Marluxia walked by. He noticed Larxene, trying her best to stand still, and his ears perked up in interest. He trotted over to his sister, and his whiskers twitched in confusion. (Lexaeus, still acting as a stone guardian, watched out of the corer of his eyes.)

"Larxene, what are you doing?" The fluffy pink cat asked with a bemused look in his eyes.

Larxene broke through her stony facade, and stretched out, letting her claws dig into the carpet. "What does it look like?" She snapped playfully, settling back into a comfortable position. "I'm making sure nobody bothers Namine."

"Namine?" Marluxia scanned the room before focusing on a small, cat-shaped silhouette hidden behind the curtains. "Ah." He looked back at his sister, a calm and gentle glow in his eyes. "I assume you're making sure that she can sunbathe without another cat intruding."

Larxene nodded, and Marluxia continued on, his eyes darting over to Lexaeus. His meow dropped to a low whisper, but Lexaeus could still hear what he was saying. "And Lexaeus is here because...?"

"He's watching over her too, furbrain," she growled, low and harsh but lacking a painful edge. Marluxia seemed to understand, and bowed his head.

"Hmm. Well, sister," he meowed, standing up, "I have places to go. I'll see you later." He added over his shoulder as he walked away.

Once he was out of view, Larxene padded over to Lexaeus. She looked at him solemnly, and he could have swore that she was apologizing to him, somehow. "You heard that, didn't you?" She asked, keeping her voice low and free of any emotions.

He nodded. She exhaled, letting her shoulders slump. "Yeah, sorry about that. Marluxia's just an insane furbrain. Just ignore him – it's not like he ever has anything important to say, anyways."

Lexaeus let a small purr of laughter start to rumble in his chest. Larxene's ears pricked up at the quiet sound, and soon the purr transferred to her. With a grateful blink, clearly saying how she was glad that he understood, she walked away and returned to her previous spot.

As the purr faded away, Lexaeus felt something else bloom inside if him – an odd warmth that spread through his body and reached all the way to the tips of his whiskers. He didn't know what it was, but didn't mind too much; it was comforting, and it made him feel like he belonged.

Sure, all of the cats and the few humans all lived together under the same roof and could – at the very least – tolerate each other, but he had found something special.

He had found a small family to call his own.

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

So, if you read any of my other stories, you may have noticed the recent page break change. Why did I change it? Well, (and I'm speaking from experience) you don't see the usual line breaks in the mobile version if FFn. It can become a pain to figure out where the page breaks are, so I'm just using that up there for simplicity's sake. I don't want to alienate anyone reading this on the mobile version of the site.

Anyways, chapter 25. Haha. I'm not shutting up about it. It's about a fourth of the way done. And this chapter, actually, is dedicated to my poor friend who helped me figure out something for that chapter. I'm never going to tell him why I needed to know that, either. xD He'll never read this, and that's the way I'd like it to be.

Ooh, one last piece of news. This now has...what, 78 reviews? You know what'd be pretty cool? Getting 100 reviews. So even if its just a "this is cool" or "this sucks you need to delete it," please review. :D I would love you guys so much if this reached 100 reviews before chapter 25. That's...6 chapters, including this one. If there are 4 reviews per chapter, Catnip will get 100 reviews before Chapter 25. I would cry tears of joy if that happened.


	20. Grumpy Old Cats

Surprisingly enough, the older, grumpier cats grudgingly accepted Kittyku into their little family. Pence opened up first, and Kittyku quickly discovered that he was a pretty friendly cat. That caused Olette to open up to him as well. She was a bit more hesitant, and she was the oldest out of the old cats, but she was sweet as long as Kittyku didn't wake her up.

Hayner, though, put the 'grudging' in 'grudgingly accepted.' It took all of Olette's reasoning power to get Hayner not to spit and hiss and glare every single time the silver kitten walked by him. When he finally started to tolerate Kittyku, it seemed as if he was only doing it because he was forced to.

At least he didn't glare and complain about him anymore. NO, HAYNER HAD MUCH BETTER THINGS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT.

"WHAT IS WITH ALL OF THESE HUMAN SHOWS!" Hayner growled, flicking his tail towards the tv.

The four cats were all lounging on the couch, watching whatever stupid show that was on the tv. None of them knew how to change the channel, and Kittyku made a mental note to watch that human kid and figure out how he was able to control the machine.

The show in question was some show about this guy who insulted other humans who liked to wear stupid-looking things to cover themselves. The ironic part was that the star of the show wore even stupider looking things than the people he insulted.

"You totally need a wardrobe change. You dress like a total lamer," the star of the show (a blond man who always wore a stupid hat and never purchased shirts long enough to cover his stomach) said, pacing in front of a slightly older man. "Fur?" He jabbed a finger at the man's coat. "Seriously? That went out of style about two years ago."

Hayner hissed at the tv screen, and Olette had to glare at him to keep him from pouncing at the tv. Pence told Kittyku that Hayner had actually done that before, and it ended with a huge welt on his head while the idiotic blond man kept talking.

The man the blond was scrutinizing, a taller, angrier brunet, glared at him. "It's not like your sense of style is much better."

"At least I don't wear fifty belts. Nobody needs fifty belts!" The blond growled, and suddenly the shot changed to an extremely angry woman with long black hair, wearing a dress with a fur ruff around her chest. The bottom part of the dress was made entirely of belts strapped together.

The two men reappeared, and now, the blond was criticizing the other man's head-fur. "And your hair! Just look at her hair!" He sighed, and rubbed his temples. "God, you are a total lamer. That cut is way too long for your face. Totally radical became totally lame about twenty years ago."

"WHY WON'T HE SHUT UP!" The fur on Hayner's back bristled, and Kittyku glanced nervously at the other two sane cats. Pence lounged on the top of the couch, seemingly asleep, while Olette continued to keep Hayner in place.

"Hayner, calm down. He's just a stupid human." Olette meowed gently, giving his shoulder a brief lick in a gesture of comfort. "Don't let him get to you."

"From what I've heard, that dumb human always gets to Hayner." Kittyku pointed out calmly. Pence opened one eye to stare at the silver kitten, and he shrank into himself and promptly shut up.

Hayner calmed down slightly, and his obnoxious grumpy yelling turned into slightly less obnoxious grumbling. The kind of grumble that only old cats manage to pull off. "Someone needs to attack him..."

The brunet man on the tv screen glared at the idiotic blond with an intensity Kittyku had never seen before. "I think we all know what to do. Time to give a wardrobe change and makeover to this complete lam-"

He was cut off by a deft punch to the face. Right in the nose.

Hayner yowled in triumph. "YEAH!" Kittyku's ears flattened down. Great. Back to the obnoxious yelling.

"RIGHT IN THE FACE!" Olette rolled her eyes in amusement; Pence closed his eyes again and resumed his pretend nap. "Man, I now officially love that brown-furred human." A fierce purr erupted in the blond cat's chest. "Even if he does look like a lamer."

"Hayner!" The other three cats called out in unison.

Once Hayner realized what had just happened, he went immediately back to being old and grumpy.

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

After that...strange episode, Kittyku left the couch to go find a decent place to take a nap at. That Sora kid wouldn't be back until nightfall – he had said so, and that he was going to be hanging out with that human who looked exactly like him...he liked that human. He seemed to be smart and relatively normal, unlike his new owner.

He discovered a nice new sleeping spot when he went inside of the adult human's room. He slipped underneath their large bed and looked for a nice spot to curl up at, when he noticed the fabric above his head drooping down slightly. Curious, he examined it until he found a small cut in the fabric. It took a bit of work, but he managed to wriggle his way into the hole.

He went a bit deeper inside of the bed, and found an even better sleeping spot, surrounded by fluffy, soft stuff. He curled up into a ball, letting his sleek, skinny tail drape over his muzzle.

Just as the sweet relief of sleep started to envelop him, he heard an all too familiar voice. He growled softly and tried to ignore it, but it got louder and louder until the door creaked open and the owner of said voice entered the room.

"Gah...almost out of food, again. Can't those lazy humans ever bother to check the bowl without me or Olette having to remind them?" Hayner grumbled, and Kittyku heard a few springs creak as the cat jumped on top of the bed. "Pence never notices when we run out until its too late, and as for that kitten..." He trailed off, and Kittyku's ears perked up in curiosity.

"...I don't even know about that kitten. I guess he's not too bad...not the best attitude, but he hasn't been _too_ bad. Yet." The silver kitten fought off the urge to snort in amusement. How ironic – the grumpy old complainer with the worst attitude Kittyku had ever seen complaining about _his_ attitude.

...yeah, okay, there was that one time when Kittyku first came to the house, but he was hungry! And they were in the way! He wasn't even being all that rude – just...harshly blunt!

He was jerked out of his thoughts when the older cat's voice got louder. Kittyku tried to go back to ignoring it, but his incessant yattering just didn't stop. He buried his head deep into the fluffy material surrounding him, but it didn't work.

Exhausted and unable to stand Hayner's dumb rant any longer, the silver kitten wormed out of his new-found hiding place and left the room to go find a quieter room to sleep in.

He stalked down the hall, and as he did, walked by Olette, who cast him a worrying glance. He didn't think much of it, but when she called out his name, he guessed that all of the irritation he was feeling showed on his face.

He stopped, and the brown cat padded over to him. "Is something the matter?" She asked.

He debated about lying so he could go find a new sleeping spot faster, but one glance at her eyes stopped that. She looked so sincerely concerned that all of his previous thought withered away to go die in some unnamed corner of his mind.

"Why is Hayner always so upset?" He asked. "He's always complaining about anything and everything."

Confusion flashed over Olette's eyes, but it was soon replaced with warm amusement. "You get used to it after a while," she purred.

Kittyku rolled his eyes. She wasn't avoiding his question, was she? "Yeah, but why is he like that?"

She paused, and something in the back of his mind told him that she had never actually considered that before. If she had, it must have been a long time ago. "Hmm...I guess he's always been like that. Even the first day he came here, he was grumpy and complaining about how he liked his old house better."

"Did you ever ask him why he was so upset?"

Olette shook her head. "Pence did, once, but Hayner ignored him. I think..." She faltered, and scanned the room, as if on the lookout for something.

Kittyku waited patiently for her to continue. When it was clear that she wouldn't, he looked around the hall himself. Except for the two of them, it was empty. "Go on," he prompted. "No one else is here."

She leaned in closer, and Kittyku noticed a mischievous, joking glint in her green eyes. "I think he was born with a bad attitude, to be honest." She purred in amusement, then returned to her original position. "Some cats get a lot nicer as they get older. He only got crabbier."

Once her meows sunk in, he nodded briskly, and she turned to leave. Over her shoulder, she meowed, "and if he gets upset with you, don't mind him, alright? Most of his insults are a way of say he likes you."

She disappeared, leaving the silver kitten sitting all alone in the hallway. He glanced back at the room where he came from, and shook his head. He stood up, and started to look for a new sleeping spot.

"Ugh..." He muttered to himself. "I hope I'm not as grumpy as him when I get old." He continued to search, but felt the need to add one more thing to his monologue. "I hope I turn out more like Pence or Olette."

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

I couldn't resist. I accidentally had the caps lock on for the "NO, HAYNER HAD MUCH..." line, and I loved it so much I kept it. xD I just couldn't resist writing the beginning of the chapter. I hope you guys find it as funny as I do.

And yes, it's basically a parody of What Not to Wear. And yes, Hayner watches it. He hates it, but he watches it nonstop. I'm like that with the Jem cartoon, but I usually die after about 10 minutes. If I don't die, I explode into a seething ball of rage.

I like the Twilight Town trio as cats. Oh, and Repliku. He's pretty cool - I gained a new respect for him after playing Re:CoM again. Same for Namine, but I like her new voice actor better than her old one. And Larxene. Ooooohmygosh, Larxene. Her eyes. They are CRAZY GREEN. Like, greener than Axel's. And big. And that's amazing. To me, at least, Marluxia remains nothing to write home about. Vexen has gotten 10 times cooler; props to his voice actor. Crazy like that takes talent. Zexion's not nearly as cool as I remember him, but he is attractive. :I Dat face. And Lexaeus. Is. The. Coolest. Guy. Ever.

Sora pissed me off, especially when he ditched Donald and Goofy, but I gotta love that kid. I love him to bits - always have, always will. He's a hero. And Roxas. It always cuts off before I see his face. Re:Coded did that too. You know how mad I was? Foreshadowing my foot. Give me that lovely picture of Roxas smiling any day please. D:

So, uh. Chapter 25. Still not halfway done. I really need to get working on it, but as of right now it's longer than any single chapter I've posted. It'll probably end up at about 25k from what it looks like. You guys should love it.

Reviews. 100 of them before chapter 25 would be great. :3 And I'm really sorry for not replying to reviews; my computer is temperamental, and it hates me. Its hard enough to get it to work enough for me to write, let alone go on the internet. D:

And if any of you had to deal with me this week, I'm sorry for that too. It's been an emotional roller coaster. I'm sorry.

And I'm sorry for these short chapters. And I'm sorry for this really long author's note. Dedicated to all of you; I hope you're feeling better than I am. May you all get the happy endings you deserve.

(P.S. Winnie the Pooh comes out this Friday. Support Disney. Go find your best guy friend and see it with him. :D )

(P.P.S. I put up a challenge on my profile. You should go check it out. :) )


	21. Kitten Hunt: Part 1

In the never ending battle of good vs. evil, not everyone was good, and not everyone was evil. Some people were neutral. One of those people was Riku.

Since Riku wasn't a good guy, he wasn't an enemy of Vanitas's. But at the same time he wasn't a bad guy, which meant he wasn't an ally. (And even if he was, Vanitas was the resident bad guy, and there wasn't enough room in the house for two evil beings.)

But Riku was fun to mess with. _Really _fun to mess with.

Vanitas quickly learned that Riku was up at the crack of dawn, and had thus adjusted his schedule for he could bother the human before he left for...wherever he went.

So, when the first rays on dawn spilled into the house and when Riku wasn't up, Vanitas knew something was wrong. He crept into the human's room, and pounced on his bed, ignoring the brown cat sleeping at the very end. With a low growl, he stalked up to Riku's face and sat down.

His head-fur hung in his face, but even through the fringe the kitten could see that his eyes were closed. "Hey." He meowed. "Get up."

When Riku didn't respond, he repeated himself, but louder. When he still didn't respond, Vanitas settled for batting the hair out of his eyes. When that _still_ didn't get him to wake up, the kitten meowed in frustration.

"What's wrong with you?" He growled. "You're not dead! WAKE UP!" He pounced on Riku's face, making sure to keep his claws sheathed, and bit Riku's cheek.

That did the trick. Riku shot up, sending the kitten flying to the end of the bed. He landed next to the brown idiot, who still stayed asleep.

Riku nursed his bitten cheek, and even if the dim light, Vanitas could see the utter annoyance and rage in the boy's face.

He hissed in delight. A job well done.

"Vanitas!" Riku hissed back, still glaring. "What is wrong with you!" He gently ran a fingertip over his cheek, examined it, and sighed in relief. His eyes darted over to the glowing thingie with numbers on it, and groaned, flopping back down into bed. "I'm going back to sleep."

Vanitas bristled with indignation. No! Riku wasn't allowed to just go back to sleep! This was Vanitas's time to bother him! He meowed angrily, but Riku grabbed his pillow and covered his own head with it.

Vanitas hissed in anger upon realizing that he wasn't going to get Riku's attention. With a disdainful growl, he hopped off the bed and went over to the window.

He sat down, and felt a slight, cold breeze ruffle his fur. He walked over to the other part of the window, and his eyes widened in realization.

The window was open. He could get outside.

Now, it was cold outside, and Vanitas didn't particularly care for the cold, nor did he actually want to leave the house, but it would teach Riku a lesson.

Vanitas hissed in delight at the idea of Riku, panicking because he had gotten out. Once the lazy bum did get up, he would notice Vanitas's absence, as well as the open window, and go on a wild chase all over the neighborhood just to find him.

With his evil plan fully formed, Vanitas took one last look back at the sleeping boy, and without another sound, hopped out the window.

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

When Riku finally woke up, he buried his head in his pillow to try to get more sleep. The sun was glaringly bright, and he covered his head with his pillow in an attempt to block it out.

With the light problem fixed, he tried to go back to sleep, only to shiver and take notice of the cold breeze wafting into his room. He pulled his blanket up tighter around him, and squeezed his eyes shut.

It didn't work at all, and ten minutes later Riku was sitting at the table, fully dressed and grumbling angrily as he watched his mom make him his favorite breakfast: a ham and cheese sandwich.

Her back was turned to him, and long silver hair spilled down in a loose ponytail. It was completely natural, and it was where he got his own hair color from. Honestly, he was slightly glad for that, since his dad's muddled brown (...or was it black?) hair wasn't exactly an interesting shade.

But silver made him unique.

"I expected you to sleep in a bit longer. After all, you are your dad's child, and that man isn't getting up for another few hours" she said with a small laugh, glancing back at him from over her shoulder.

"So did I..." he grumbled angrily.

"What made you get up? Is something the matter?" She asked, worry seeping into his voice.

He shook his head in amusement; she doted over him _way_ too much. "Nah, it was just cold."

"Did you remember to shut your window last night?" She asked. "I told you to before you went to bed." She set the sandwich down in front of him, but he could only gape.

Vanitas was in his room this morning...and the window was open.

And he had been awake for ten minutes without the little demon hissing at him and ruining his perfectly good sandwich.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Riku, honey, is something the matter?"

He shook his eat, and set to scarfing down his sandwich. She watched him, still clearly uneasy about his behavior.

He forced a smile on his face, and only hoped that she would buy it. She did, and he fought the urge to sigh in relief as the tension left her shoulders. "Hey, Mom, do you mind if I hang out with Sora and Kairi today?"

She beamed at him. Sometimes, she was just too easy to please. "Oh no, not at all! Where are you three going to be at?"

He shrugged, and her forehead automatically creased in response. "I promise to bring my phone..." He said. Usually the promise was enough to calm her down, but his paranoia had been set off, and now he could only anxiously watch as she bit her lip in thought.

Thankfully, it was enough. "Alright. Have fun, honey. Be back before dinner. Do you need me to pack you a lunch? What about Sora or Kairi? Do you need money?"

She kept firing questions off at him, and he could only roll his eyes. However, the money _did_ sound like a good idea... "Well, a bit of money might help. We might hit the arcade later."

Her eyes lit up, and she laughed softly as she got up from the table and dove into her purse, which was (as always) within five feet of her. She came back holding a couple of 20 dollar bills, and handed them to Riku. He took them, but looked back up at his mother with a single raised eyebrow.

"Food for money," she explained, a bright smile on her face. "And a little extra, just in case you do go to the arcade. Don't think I don't remember last time Kairi went to the arcade," she teased.

Riku resisted the urge to laugh. Last time Kairi had gone to the arcade, she had gotten addicted to Pac-Man and some shooter game with a foreign name. She went through 10 dollars worth in quarters before she finally left (and, of course, left her mark on the high-score list.)

But the memory of the open window flashed in his mind, and any urge to laugh vanished. He would get killed if his dad found out that Vanitas had gotten out..._if_ Vanitas had gotten out.

Plus, he and Grampynort still had the bet going on, and he was determined to win.

"Thanks mom." He flashed her his best -fake- smile, and got up from the table, turning back to leave to his room. "I'm gonna go call them!" He shouted over his shoulder, waiting for her shout back of "okay!" before shutting his door.

Terra was still asleep on his bed, but he ignored the brown cat in favor of rushing over to the window. Sure enough, a bitter, cold breeze was blowing through, and he shut it instantly.

With that done, he grabbed his phone and flipped it open, deciding to call Kairi first. He needed to look for Vanitas, but he had to tell Kairi what was going on first, so his mom wouldn't know anything was wrong.

He brought the phone up to his ear, and within two rings, he heard her voice on the other end, thick with sleep.

"Riku...?" She muttered. "Why are you calling me...it's too early for this." She groaned, and he tried not to smirk at the image of what she was probably doing; laying in her bed, groaning and kicking her legs like she always did when she first woke up. She was probably kicking whatever unlucky cat that had decided to sleep on her bed right off and onto the floor.

He heard a gasp, and a quick, muttered apology. Yup. She kicked one of them off.

"Kairi, it's..." he glanced over at the clock. "8:30. It's not early at all."

"It is for me..." she grumbled, and his mental picture of her sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of one eye, her hair messed up and tangled from sleep. "Aren't I allowed to sleep in on the weekends?"

"Well, we have a mission to do." He replied smoothly, hoping that it would perk her up slightly.

It didn't, much to his dismay. "Can't we do it later?" She complained.

Time for his next act – this one would work for sure. He just had to play towards her outer animal lover. "Well..." he began. "I...think I might have lost Vanitas..."

She gasped, and he heard the faint sound of her bed springs squeaking. Mental-Kairi jumped out of bed and rushed to her closet, and sure enough, he heard the sound of hangers squeaking on the other end of the line. "You mean you lost the new kitten you got!"

He sighed at her condescending tone. "I don't know. I still have to check, but so far, it isn't looking good. He'd be bothering me by now."

"Then start looking!" She groaned. "Sorry, Riku, but I gotta go. Have you called Sora yet?"

"No."

"Then call him. I'll be over there in about 15 minutes, alright?"

"Alright."

Mental-Kairi smiled softly, and when she spoke again, her voice had lost it's rough edge. "See you soon."

She hung up, and Riku threw his phone in his pocket. She'd stay true to her word – he knew that much, but he didn't know how long it would take for Sora to show up. If he was using his bike, well...they'd have to postpone looking for Vanitas for at least another half hour.

That thought brought Riku back into the present: mainly, the present where he was standing in his room, staring at the wall like an idiot. He shook his head, and his face settled into a determined neutral state as he flung his door open and searched throughout the house.

It didn't take him long to find Aqua and Ven, but when he finally finished searching the house, the grim realization dawned on him. Yes, Vanitas really did run away.

And it was up to him and his friends to find the little demon.

He couldn't say that he didn't feel the surge of worry coursing through him. Though, he would never admit it. Even if Vanitas was just a cat, and even if Sora and Kairi would be happy to know that he did care about the demon-kitten, he still would never admit it.

Sure enough, 15 minute later, right when Riku was finishing up his second search throughout the horse (he told his mom that he was looking for a pair of his shoes. She believed him, thankfully), the doorbell rang.

He rushed over to the door and pulled it open. To his surprise, both Kairi and Sora were standing in front of him, each bearing different expressions: Kairi had a determined shine in her eyes, while her lips were drawn in a tight line, while Sora grinned like an idiot. The brunet probably thought of this as another 'mission.'

It was then that Riku noticed the giant net Sora held, gently swaying over his head like a war flag. "Sora..._why_?" He asked, pointing to the top of his net.

That stupid grin never left his face. "What else are we gonna catch him with?"

"I don't know," Riku replied sarcastically. "Maybe a kennel?" The moment the words left his mouth, his face fell. He didn't know where the kennel went, which meant another 10 minutes or searching just for it...

"Already ahead of you, Riku!" Kairi said, holding up the kennel that -he just noticed- she carried with her. "I also brought a leash, a small collar, and some food, in case he gets hungry when we find him." Her eyebrow slowly raised, and she gave him a withering glare. "Assuming that you _didn't_ find him."

He chuckled nervously, and gave her a sheepish grin. "No..."

"Then let's go!" Sora cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

Riku sighed in amusement, but nodded. "Bye mom!" He called out over his shoulder, waiting for her response before he shut the door and set out on his new 'mission' with his two best friends.

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

To be continued in Part 2, which will be unveiled next Tuesday! ;D


	22. Kitten Hurt: Part 2

"Alright, where do we start?" Kairi asked expectantly, rolling back on the heels of her boots. The weather was still cold, but the snow had melted, leaving the sidewalk and streets normal and the grass soggy and damp.

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. Vanitas could be anywhere," he said, looking around for any hint of the black kitten. It shouldn't be _that_ hard to look for him, since the sun was shining brightly above, and he stuck out like a sore thumb against...well, everything around here. It was just a matter of figuring out where he went.

Sora waved his net above his head. "Should we split up?" He asked, looking over to Riku for direction. "We could cover more ground."

"Yeah, but Riku doesn't have anything to catch Vanitas with," Kairi pointed out. "Besides, it's more fun searching together!"

Riku looked between the two of them, and eventually turned more towards Sora. "She's right. We should just stick together."

Sora pouted slightly, but nodded. "Fine...but where should we start searching?"

The three friends shared the same dumbfounded look. If they had known that, just a few feet away, inside of a large bush right next to a tacky pink flamingo, was Vanitas, watching them and trying his best not to hiss in laughter at their stupidity, Riku probably would have had a seizure from pure anger.

But they didn't, and Vanitas kept stifling his hisses.

However, Kairi did point something out. "How about we start here, and go out?" She was met with confused looks, and with a sigh, she started to explain again. "We start right here, and then we check this street, and keep going out from there. Like a spiral," she explained, twirling a finger in a circle to demonstrate her point.

Riku shook his head, feeling suddenly embarrassed. "Kairi, that's..." He sighed. "That's a great idea. Why didn't I think of that?"

"You're too consumed with worry for your poor, lost little kitten?" Sora suggested eagerly, eyes still bright with the prospect of adventure.

Riku gave the brunet a look that essentially defined, _'if you ever so much as suggest that again, I will kill everything within a five mile radius, starting with you.'_

Sora kept his mouth shut after that.

"Hey, guys? Shouldn't we start, oh, I don't know, _looking_ for the kitten?" Kairi reminded them, a sugary sweet tone coating the rage boiling right underneath. She was an animal lover, through and through, and Riku knew that the only thing that could actually make her mad was the idea of an animal being in danger. Especially cats. (Even if the cat in question was really a furry little demon-spawn.)

The three teens started rummaging through Riku's front yard, each taking their own approach to searching: Riku kicked away every single flamingo and kicked every bush he came across, moving onto the next one if nothing screamed inside, Kairi got down on her hands and knees and carefully peeked into each bush, softly crooning Vanitas's name, while Sora hummed cheesy action movie music and blindly shoved his arms into any bush he came across like an idiot. Riku decided that he had somehow gotten a hold of his parents' coffee supply.

None of the humans were aware of the fact that Vanitas was watching them like a hawk, and was barely containing his amusement. It faded, however, when a random foot he was currently _very _upset with invaded his hiding spot. His ears flattened against his head, and he hissed an insult at the stupid foot before bolting out of the bush and down the street.

"After him!" Sora yelled, drawing the attention of the other two teens. He took off in a mad dash after the kitten, his net flailing behind his head. Both Riku and Kairi couldn't help but think that he looked a _tiny_ bit stupid as he practically flung himself down the street after the black blur.

They frantically tried to keep up with Sora, but both came skidding to a stop when the blur turned into another yard and scrabbled up a tree. Sora, however, noticed just a few moments too late and ended up slamming face-first into an inconveniently placed telephone pole.

"Sora!" The brunet slid down the pole, and fell to the ground, groaning and seeing stars dance in his vision. In an instant, Riku and Kairi were on either side of him, helping him up.

He stood shakily on his feet, using his friends as support. His head pounded, his body ached, and he reached a hand up to massage his temples. "That...was painful." He groaned quietly, and gave them a weak smile. "Next time, I should really watch where I'm going."

Kairi looped an arm around his shoulder and gently led him to the curb, helping him sit down on the edge. She sat down in front of him, until her eyes were locked on his.

She always had the darkest eyes out of the trio; a dark blue that looked violet in some lights. Out here, in the bright winter sun, they were a deep violet, and Sora couldn't look away. "Stay here." She commanded, her voice stern and gentle like a mother instructing their child.

He pouted, upset to be unable to participate in their mission, but nodded. "Fine. I'll be a good boy," he stuck his tongue out, and she rolled her eyes and gently smacked him on the arm, setting their supplies down next to the brunet.

Riku had made his way over to the large tree Vanitas had climbed up, and was glaring into the branches, but whether he was searching for the kitten or simply taking his anger out on the tree, Kairi wasn't sure. She shot once glance back at Sora, who had settled for examining his shoes and lazily waving his net around, but turned her attention back to Riku once she reached him.

"So...how are we gonna get him down?" She asked, turning to him.

His eyes never left the tree, and as Kairi glanced up at them, she noticed them darting around, trying to see through the leaves. "First we find him. Then we get up there and drag him down."

She wanted to frown, but she knew how much he disliked the kitten, so instead she searched for any sign of black in the tree. "You make it sound so violent, Riku," she teased, but there was a serious edge underneath that she knew he'd pick up.

He did. "Yeah, I know." He replied, simple and curt. Kairi puffed her cheeks out, but she had known him long enough to know when to stop pressing a matter.

Kairi was the one to notice the small puff of a black tail waving down at them. "There!" She shouted, pointing directly up to the tail, receding back into the trees like a cautious snake. "Riku, go get him!"

He sighed, but he nodded and started up the tree. They both heard the hiss of irritation, but that only made Riku climb up faster. She would have done it, but all three of them remembered the last time she had climbed a tree, and how horribly it had ended.

Needless to say, she lost her favorite pair of pants that day.

Riku saw the flash of golden eyes, and dove towards the source of an irritated hiss. Vanitas was right in his way, and he reached out to grab the kitten by the scruff, only to have the little terror make a leap of faith from the branches to the nearby roof. Riku cursed, loudly, and flinched at Kairi's angry shout.

He shimmied down the tree, and looked away the second he caught a flash of her angry glare. Whenever she was upset, she always crossed her arms and tapped her foot, and every time Riku saw that look, a wave of guilt crashed over him.

"Why did you feel the need to say that?" Kairi asked impatiently.

He shrugged weakly, trying his best not to fumble over his words. "I...um...he escaped." He pointed to the roof, and Kairi's glare dropped when she saw the kitten happily perched on the roof, watching them with amusement glittering in his eyes.

The kitten hissed, and bounded to the other side of the rood, tail wagging as if he was daring them to try to catch him. Kairi blinked, rubbed her eyes, then looked at Riku with an expression of pure and utter confusion. "Is he...is he toying with us?"

Riku nodded solemnly, and his eyes grew cold and icy. "And you wonder why I hate that cat."

"Well, we have to go get him! He could get hurt up there!" She protested.

At that point, Sora's headache had -mostly- faded away, and he picked up the rest of the supplies and joined them. He still hurt, yeah, but slamming face-first into a telephone pole wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it would be. He'd hurt for a few days, and he could feel the beginnings of a bloody nose coming on, but he'd survive. "So, what'd I miss?" He asked, looking back at forth between the frowning girl and the impassive boy.

"The kitten's on the roof, and we need to get him," Kairi explained, making her way over to the front of the house. "Now, the question is, how do we get him down? Should we go up, or should we try to get him down?" She paced around the perimeter of the house, stopping at the fence blocking off the backyard. White picket, just like most of the other houses in this neighborhood. Small, but homey.

Riku sighed, and gently grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her away from the front door. "Kairi, think about this for a moment. We're teenagers standing around in some random person's yard, and you're suggesting _we go up on their roof to get a stupid cat._"

"Hey guys!" Sora called out, standing by the front door. "I talked to the people who live here, and you'll never guess who else lives here!" He moved to the side, revealing two very familiar, very perplexed teenage boys.

Riku exchanged glances with Kairi for a brief moment, then back to the boys. "Lea! Isa! I never knew you lived here!" She shouted happily, running over to them and tackling the both of them in a huge. The step-brothers exchanged glances as well, but laughed.

She let go of them, still smiling. Lea laughed. "Some friend you are, Kairi. We've known each other for years, and yet you've never asked us where we live." He gave her a mock pout, but guilt still pricked at her mind, and she looked away, murmuring a quick apology.

"Well, anyways," Sora cut in, "I explained what's going on to them, and they said they'd help us," he said, looking at his two friends with a grin.

"Yeah, and you're lucky Lucie and Dad aren't home," Isa said, giving Sora a wary look.

"They would flip if they found out we went up to the roof," Lea added, elbowing the blue haired boy in the ribs. "As long as this guy over here doesn't snitch, though, we'll be fine."

Riku stepped forward, and cleared his throat, garnering everyone's attention. "That's nice and all, but my idiotic cat is still up there on your roof. Not all of us can go up there and get him."

"I think only two of us should," Kairi added, thoughtfully tapping her chin. "How about you, Riku?" She turned to the redheaded boy. "And you, Lea? Since this is your house and all, and Vanitas is Riku's cat."

"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Sora cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

Isa rolled his eyes. "I'll go get the ladder..."

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

Once Riku was on the roof, he moved carefully and took light steps, as if he could trip some sort of sensor if he wasn't careful. Meanwhile, Lea had hopped up and started aimlessly plodding around. Below them, Kairi and Sora held their 'supplies' and cheered them on, while Isa circled around the house, looking for any signs of the kitten.

"So, we're looking for a black kitten?" Lea asked, glancing over his shoulder to look at Riku.

Riku nodded. "Yeah. And if he hisses at you, just ignore it and grab him." He instructed.

"Got it." They walked in silence, and it didn't take long to catch a glimpse of black fur.

Vanitas, the little devil, was laying down, a little ways away from the edge, watching Kairi and Sora run around underneath him, lazily grooming his ears and face. He stopped at the sound of footsteps and looked back, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You little-" Riku was cut off by Lea, who had taken another step forward.

"-Found ya, you little furball!" Lea shouted, diving forward to grab the kitten. Vanitas, however, saw the movement coming, and in a flash, dived out of the way and scrambled to the edge of the roof, directly above one of the many white picket fences that surrounded all of the backyards around the neighborhood.

"You wouldn't..." Riku muttered, slowly walking closer to the kitten (and making sure to step over Lea, who was glaring at the space Vanitas used to occupy).

If Riku could read cat minds, he would have seen that Vanitas was treating the whole thing like a game, and was simply baiting Riku and his friends along. After all, this was revenge for ignoring him! Besides, it was a ton of fun, and Vanitas got to explore.

But Riku couldn't read Vanitas's mind, so he took another step forward. Vanitas hissed in delight, then hopped off the edge of the roof, (somehow) expertly handing on the top of the fence before disappearing into the next yard over.

Riku growled, and ran his hands through his hair. "I swear, I will kill that cat when I get my hands on him..." He muttered quietly, walking over to Lea and helping him up. They got off the roof, and had the others gather in a circle as Riku explained what had happened.

They all fell into a brief silence, each mentally debating what to suggest doing next. That is, until Sora shattered it with a large hammer.

"Guys," he said, looking around at each face in the small group, "you know what this means."

"So much for a relaxing day at home?" Isa said flatly.

Sora shot him a glare. "No!" He faltered, and his glare disappeared. "Well, for you, yeah, but that's not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?" Riku asked.

"That our mission isn't over yet!"

Riku shook his head. Sora always had been strange.

So the newly formed group set off to (maybe, if they were lucky) capture their target.

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

To be wrapped up in Part 3!

I originally didn't expect to have Lea and Isa show up, but the idea popped up in my head that 'hey, that should be their house,' and now they've joined our little group. Heh, I love writing Sora, Riku, and Kairi interactions. They're just perfect together, and Lea and Isa turns it into an awesome five man band. Expect that to be referenced somehow in the next chapter. xD

Yeah, I wanted to update a day early. Partially because I guess this is an apology for so many short chapters. I'm sorry! D:

Anyways, update on Chapter 25. Progress is going...really slow. I've been writing that thing since FEBURARY, and it's still not done. It's not even that long, it's just hard to write. I've lost pretty much all of my support system and motivators for it over the months, and now it's a struggle to write. I'm going to try to finish it, but I may have to put this on a hatius until I finish it. Really, I'd like someone who would help me with it and just be there for support and suggestions, but I can't have nice things, now can I? :/

Well, see you all next Tuesday.


	23. Kitten Hunt: Part 3

Once Vanitas slipped into the next yard over, he met a very feisty looking dog, and promptly got his furry little butt out of that yard. Little did the humans know, but he was perched on the other edge of the fence, glaring down at the dog beneath him. He hissed in amusement as the stupid thing yanked the leash around its neck (it was tied to a tree) and whined pitifully.

While Vanitas was toying with the dumb dog, the five humans were all sitting in the front yard of Lea and Isa's house, concocting a plan to capture the kitten.

"The neighbors aren't home right now," Isa explained, casting a glance over to the house next door. "But we have to be careful of their dog – he bit Lea a few weeks ago, but that was only because he was being an idiot."

Lea's face fell, and he punched the blue-haired boy in the arm. "I'm not a dog person, alright!" He snapped. "Unlike you. Seriously. Sometimes I think the wolves should have taken you away when you were born."

The other three teens tried not to laugh at the step-brothers' antics. Riku was the first to recover, and instantly his mind snapped back to his demon-cat.

"Enough of the jokes, guys. We need to think up a plan." Riku said, getting the others to quiet down.

"Then make up a plan already. After all, you are the leader." Isa pointed out, rolling his eyes and dusting the stray bits of grass that Lea had plucked out of the ground off of his pants.

"Since when am I the leader..." Riku muttered quietly.

"It's pretty obvious." Kairi chirped, nodding. "He's your cat, and you're the one taking the lead."

"Yeah!" Sora chimed in. "But...Vanitas is in that yard over there with that big, nasty dog..." Sora trailed off, frowning. Everyone caught on to the meaning behind his words, thankfully. No one, not even Riku, wanted to actually hear the implications of that spoken out loud.

"Don't worry, Sora. He's not dumb enough to get eaten." A small smirk appeared on Riku's lips. "Besides, he'd probably taste bad."

After that, Riku drove the conversation back into a serious territory as the five teens tried to figure out a plan. After about five minutes of planning, they gave up and decided to simply send Lea over the fence to scout, while Isa distracted the dog.

With a little help from Isa's trusty ladder, the two boys slipped over the fence. Sora, being...well, not exactly the brightest bulb in the shed, wanted to watch them but somehow completely ignored the existence of the large ladder six feet away from him.

The brunet boy walked up to the edge the – rather tall - fence and started hopping, silently cursing his height. He was a few inches taller than Kairi, but he was just an inch or two below the average male height. He shot a glare over to Riku, who had been blessed by genetics and towered at a mighty 5'8. (And the worst part? Riku wasn't even _done_ growing! It just wasn't fair!)

Sora's glare suddenly disappeared as an idea formed in his head. "Hey, Riku, come here." He ordered, a cat-like grin slipping over his face as Riku raised an eyebrow at him. "Just...come here!"

Riku hesitantly took a few steps toward Sora. "I know that look..." He said warily. "What are you planning?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

Sora dropped the grin for a feign of innocence. "Oh, nothing..." He said, looking away and giving Riku his best I'm-a-sweet-little-angel-I-couldn't-hurt-a-fly smile. Riku, however didn't buy it.

Neither did Kairi, who was actually being sensible and sitting on the ladder so she could watch both events unfold. Sora did notice her at some point or another, but the idea never popped into his head to get on the ladder as well.

"Sora, cut it out." Riku warned him. "I'm not buying it."

"But Riku," Sora protested, pouting, "I'm not gonna do anything! Promise!"

Sora's eyes grew wide, and he stuck his lip out, making it tremble for good measure. Riku would never be able to resist his deadly puppy dog look. It melted the coldest of hearts, it made the sternest of mothers give up, and it even got him free ice cream one time.

Kairi called the look a wibble, and Sora wibbled at Riku for all he was worth.

As Kairi burst into giggles behind them, Riku sighed. "Alright, fine." He shook his head and joined Sora. "Now, what do you wa-AAH!"

Sora, in a sudden burst of speed, hopped up onto Riku's back. "Sora!" Riku shouted, stumbling around in a vain attempt to keep his balance. "What are you doing!"

"Riku, stop struggling!" Sora scrambled around like some sort of monkey and held on for all he was worth, grinning in triumph. He could finally see straight over the fence, but his victory was dulled a little by the fact that Isa was blandly petting the dog while Lea hunted around the rest of the yard. He could have sworn he saw a blur of black on the other side of the yard, but it disappeared when he blinked. It must have been some trick of the light.

"Sora...get off." Riku growled.

The brunet boy smiled, but even if Riku couldn't see his smile, it was clear in his voice. "Nah, I'm good."

"Sora, seriously, get off. You're heavy." Riku complained, groaning but making no move to wrestle Sora off. Outside of flopping down on the grass, there wasn't a very effective way to, either.

(Meanwhile, just a few feet away, Kairi was laughing like a maniac.)

"Yeah!" Sora cheered. "I can finally see over this dumb fence!"

Riku stopped. "Wait. So you're telling me that you climbed all over me just so you could see over the fence?"

"Yeah."

"And you did this, even though there's a ladder right there?" The silver-haired boy growled, gesturing to where Kairi was sitting.

The girl thought that Riku was singling her out for some reason, so she gave them a sheepish smile and a small wave.

Sora, for the life of him, honestly did not notice the ladder. "Huh. Guess I didn't see it." He slipped off of his friend and landed on the yard with a soft 'thump.' "Sorry, Riku."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't do it again, alright? We aren't five anymore, and you're heavy." Riku replied.

The brunet opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud shout coming form the other side of the fence.

"Found 'im!" Lea shouted, jumping up and attempting to grab the black kitten (who had somehow reappeared on the fence).

All three teens scrambled up on the ladder, and the two boys ignored Kairi's shouts of protest ("Hey, stop! I'd like some breathing space, guys!") to watch the event unfold.

Just as Lea was about to grab Vanitas, he hissed and jumped down on the other side of the fence. Lea tried to scramble after him, but he couldn't get over, and gave up.

Before long, they had come back over the ladder to regroup. Together, the team of five made their way through the other front yards, chasing madly after Vanitas whenever they caught a glimpse of the black kitten.

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

Most of the day continued on in that fashion, with the teens being blindly strung along by the devious little kitten. By the time the sun was high in the middle of the sky, they returned to Lea and Isa's house for lunch, since it was closest and Riku's mother would ask questions if the five of them went there.

Lea and Isa went in to get some food, and before long, the five of them sat in a circle in the middle of their driveway, all plucking pizza rolls form the large serving plate in the center.

(Vanitas, once he realized that they weren't chasing him anymore, angrily followed them back and scrambled back up the tree. He sat on one of the lower branches, concealed by dozens of leaves as he watched boredly. Humans were _so_ stupid sometimes.)

"Told you it was a good idea to make the entire bag." Lea bragged, popping another pizza roll into his mouth.

Isa gave him a pointed glare and sighed. After all, for once, Lea was right. That didn't happen very often, but when it did, he made sure to milk the moment for all it was worth.

"So, guys...I've been thinking," Sora blurted out, earning the attention of his friends. "If we were in a tv series, what role would we each play? Like, who would be the star, and who would be the best friend-slash-right hand person, who would be the muscle, and so on." He explained quickly.

"Riku's the main character, obviously!" Kairi pointed out. "After all, we're searching for his cat, and he's the leader."

"...didn't we already talk about this?"

"Well, if Riku's the hero, then I must qualify for being the brains." Isa said. "No offense, Kairi." He added quickly.

"Hey!" Lea and Sora shouted in unison. They took a moment to stare at each other in confusion, then both turned to Isa. "Are you calling us dumb!"

"Awkward..." Kairi muttered under her breath.

Isa sighed. "_Never_...do that again. And admit it, you guys aren't exactly the smartest people around."

Both boys humbled slightly, and they muttered quietly to themselves. Lea was the first to come back, and asked with a frown, "then who am I?"

"The muscle," said Riku.

Lea considered the option, and nodded. "Yeah, I guess that works for me. I'm usually the one stuck carrying everything."

"And climbing," Isa added.

"And running," Kairi pitched in.

"Anyways!" Sora cut the two off. "That only leaves me and Kairi's roles, right?"

"You're using improper grammar again, Sora..." Riku muttered under his breath. There was a reason why he usually tutored Sora twice a week, and it wasn't because Sora wanted to spend more time with Riku.

In fact, Sora had failed his last two English tests. The boy couldn't spell the word infinitive, much less give the definition and examples of it.

"That's not the point, Riku!" Sora snapped, sighing. "We still need to figure out what roles _Kairi and I_ have," he finished, sticking his tongue out at his friend.

(_I thought Riku was neutral, not a hero..._ Vanitas thought to himself. _Hm..._this_ changes everything._)

Kairi hummed thoughtfully. "Usually, the hero's right hand man is a foil to the hero. They're almost always best friends, but the right hand man embodies qualities that the hero doesn't."

"What does foil have to do with anything?" Sora wondered aloud, but the others ignored him.

"Basically, they balance each other out." Riku added, eying the last two pizza rolls left. He didn't want to take them and look greedy in case someone else wanted them, but at the same time, he was still hungry. Oh, what a conundrum.

"From what I've seen, Kairi's probably the best candidate for that role." Isa pointed out, rolling his eyes at the situation around him. The four other teens all eyed the last pizza rolls, but no one made a move to get one. He didn't want one – unlike Lea, he actually _ate_ his breakfast that morning, and at this rate, the food would get cold. And he knew from experience that cold pizza rolls weren't exactly tasty (that was _before_ Lea learned that reading cooking directions was a good idea).

Kairi glanced up from her stare down of the food to look at Isa questioningly. "Why me? Why not Sora?"

"I can see it..." Riku nodded slowly.

"Kairi, you're a lot nicer and more caring than cold, composed Riku," Lea explained.

"Hey! Why not me!" Sora protested, crossing his arms over his chest with a pout.

"Because you're a spaz." Lea grinned teasingly, and Sora only huffed again.

"Then what role do I fill?" Sora shot back with a glare. Unfortunately for Sora, he had huge blue eyes, and while they worked perfectly when he needed to use his signature adorable puppy dog look, they didn't work well for glaring. Really, it made him look like a five year old who had just gotten denied their favorite candy – huffy and angry and strangely adorable.

The others all looked about them trying to think of an answer. Finally, Lea came up with one. "You know that token chick every show has? The one that's only there to get kidnapped, or stop fights between the others? The one who makes everyone play nice?" The others, Sora included, nodded. "Yeah. You're that chick."

"He's basically saying you're useless." Isa oh-so-helpfully pointed out.

Sora's eyes widened in realization, and he sputtered in disbelief. "I-I am not useless!" He protested. "I'm useful! And shouldn't Kairi take that role!" He pointed an accusing finger at her, and she glared back at him.

Nobody wants to be the chick of a team. Not even the chick.

(Meanwhile, Vanitas watched them with growing disgust. To him, they had forgotten completely about him in favor of arguing about some stupid team! Humans. So _dumb_. Even _Terra_ was smarter than them.)

"Because Kairi's useful." Riku said, keeping his tone light-hearted so Sora wouldn't get any more offended that he already was. "She brought a kennel. You brought a bug catching net."

"It could work!"

"Vanitas would rip it apart in a second." Riku shot back flatly.

"Well, you did get Lea and Isa to help us. And being the chick isn't so bad, Sora." Kairi tried to assure him, gently patting his shoulder. "You're the...the heart of our team."

Sora, in a fit of self-pity and general disappointment, grabbed the last two pizza rolls off of the plate and shoved them into his mouth. The other three pizza roll-wanters silently groaned, and mourned the loss of their beloved rolls.

Isa stared down at the empty plate, then let his eyes travel over the disappointed (and angry, in Sora's case) faces around him. "...you guys are still hungry, aren't you?"

("Did they all _forget_ about me?" Vanitas hissed to himself. "They...they're not good guys at all! They're even more evil than I am! Those _jerks!_")

They nodded sullenly, except for Sora, who was grinning like a little kid who had just stolen his toy back from an older sibling.

"We're out of pizza rolls, but we have some chips. Do you want those?" He asked, snickering as the others' eyes lit up.

"Oh man, you need to get the sour cream and onion! Those are the best!" Lea cheered, gently shoving his step-brother in an attempt to get him to move faster.

"You have sour cream and onion?" Kairi asked, the wonder and awe lighting her face up even brighter than before.

Isa found it a bit funny, since she was the one usually driving them to look for the kitten. But when food gets involved, she loses all other goals.

Riku had a slightly confused glint in his eyes, as if he was thinking the same thing as Isa, but neither of them said anything.

Isa retrieved the coveted bag of chips, and instantly Lea and Kairi opened it and tore into it with a ferocity strongly resembling starving wild animals. Sora continued to sulk about his role in the team, while Riku looked vaguely horrified.

Isa didn't care. Lea acted that way every single time he got sour cream and onion chips (which was very often).

(By this point, Vanitas was a very angry ball of fluff. He would never admit it, but he also felt a little abandoned. They had given up their search for him. For food. _Nasty human food._)

The kitten shook it off with a snort. Besides, he was getting hungry, and this game was getting boring. So he climbed down the tree, and sauntered over to the group of five, tail dragging along the ground. He walked into the middle of the circle, ignoring the other teens, and sat in Riku's lap.

They were all too stunned to react, at first. Vanitas hissed in annoynce and raised up on his back feet, waving his paws in the air for emphasis (little did they know that he was telling Riku off for being such an evil jerk).

When he started beating against Riku's leg with a single paw, it finally clicked inside of the silver-haired boy's mind.

"Got'cha!" Riku shouted, grabbing the annoyed ball of black fluff. "I have spent all morning looking for you, you little brat."

Vanitas was unimpressed, and continued to tell Riku off in his own special way.

Lea ran off to pick up the kennel, and Riku promptly shoved the kitten in there. He expected more of a fight to be put up, but strangely enough, he went inside without trying to claw him to death.

"Guys," Riku announced, making no attempt to hide the proud smile on his face, "we finally caught him."

The others, even Sora, who was still grumping about, and Kairi and Lea, who were still stuffing their faces full of chips, and even snarky Isa, cheered.

Mission accomplished.

**0 X 0 X 0 X**

Haha, this was fun. And so the story of the kitten hunt comes to an end. It was fun while it lasted, right?

Anyways, I have bad news, guys. I'm gonna take another break from Catnip. Why, you may ask? (Please don't get mad at me D: )

Well, firstly, chapter 25. So it won't be all like "oh chapter 24 yay *two months later get another update*" because I really don't want to do that.

And secondly, because I've gotten a bit tired of writing this. D: School's coming up next week, and I think I need a little break so I can work on chapter 25 and work up some backlog just in case.

So...um...I'll see you...uh, eventually. And again, I'm really sorry!


End file.
